The machines will be delivered by summer 2007. All three customers have also opted for a service contract during the warranty period.

Kalmar’s EDRIVE® straddle carriers are electrically driven with AC drives to meet the strictest environmental standards. The units on order to Bremerhaven and Hamburg are all fitted with winch rope hoist systems and feature APP (Auto Pick and Place), which contributes to more precise operations. Special attention has been paid to reduced noise emissions in consideration of the nearby residential areas.

Delivery of MSC Gate Bremerhaven’s four-high ESC units will be completed in spring 2007. Six of the machines will be supplied with twin lift spreaders while all ten are to be employed at Bremerhaven’s CT1 terminal, which opened in 2004. This is Kalmar’s first straddle carrier order from MSC Gate, a joint venture between leading European terminal operator, Eurogate, and one of the world’s largest container carriers, Mediterranean Shipping Company. The excellent performance of the ten ESC units in operation at Eurogate’s Hamburg facility since early 2006 contributed to the decision to place this latest order.
NTB’s seven four-high EDRIVE straddle carriers will all be supplied with single lift spreaders and will be delivered in spring 2007 for operation at the new CT4 terminal, to be opened later this year. While the straddle carrier delivery is Kalmar’s first to this particular terminal, APM Terminals, which owns half of NTB, is a longstanding Kalmar customer and employs its handling equipment at terminals around the world.

HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai’s three-high ESC units, all equipped with twin lift spreaders, will feature the option for modification into four-high container stacking. HHLA is Kalmar’s biggest customer in Germany and the new equipment, due for delivery by summer 2007, will join the fleet of almost 70 straddle carriers already employed at the CTB facility. Total container handling capacity at the Burchardkai terminal is around 2.9m TEU across an area of 160 hectares.

At present, Kalmar is working in partnership with CTB to put in place an automatic stacking crane (ASC) system for the conversion of the facility to a semi-automated operation. The ASCs will work hand in hand with Kalmar straddle carriers to significantly increase the terminal’s operational capacity to 5.2m TEU by 2015.