In the third quarter of this year, Northport Limited ordered an eco-efficient Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 Mobile Harbor Crane for their deep-water facility at Marsden Point, on the north island of New Zealand. The crane will be delivered and commissioned in the first quarter of 2020. It will expand the facility’s container handling capacity and help to handle general cargo and bulk materials.

Northport is the northernmost multi-purpose, dry-cargo port in New Zealand, with its three berths handling traffic to and from most of the country’s international markets. Northport is looking to grow, and therefore decided to invest in a new crane to work alongside theKonecranes Gottwald Model 4 Mobile Harbor Crane they’ve been operating since 2015.

“Since we started handling containers, we’ve received outstanding support from Konecranes,” says Jon Moore, CEO of Northport. “They’ve provided a high-performance crane that gives us wide flexibility in handling any kind of cargo. Once we had decided to expand our capacity, it was an easy decision to work with Konecranes again.”

This time, Northport opted for a Konecranes Gottwald Model 6 Mobile Harbor Crane in the G HMK 6507 variant. With this new crane, Northport can now serve container vessels up to post-Panamax class. The crane’s maximum lifting capacity of 125 tons extends their flexibility in handling general and heavy cargo. Equipped with a motor grab, it can also handle bulk materials. In addition to the eco-efficient diesel-electric drive, an external power source can be used to operate the crane, which gives the possibility to use back-up power options and complies with the New Zealand government’s strict guidelines for sustainable energy use.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Northport,” says Michael Green, Regional Director Sales APAC, Konecranes Port Solutions. “We admire their long-term commitment to providing reliable and efficient cargo handling. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them in the future.”