Konecranes VLC Corporation has received an order for eight Shipboard Gantry Cranes from Japanese Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. to be installed onboard vessels ordered by Singaporean shipowner Masterbulk Ptd. Ltd. The total order value is approx. EUR 32 million.
Eight Konecranes-Munckloader cranes with a lifting capacity of 68 tons each will be installed onboard four 48,000 tons open hatch general cargo container vessels ordered by Masterbulk Ptd. Ltd.. Konecranes VLC delivered also in 1999/2000 eight similar cranes with a lower lifting capacity (40 tons) to four of Masterbulk’s 40,000 tons vessels.
The engineering and the key components for the Shipboard Gantries are delivered from Finland. The crane structures will be manufactured and assembled in Korea. When fully erected and tested the cranes will be barged to Japan. The Oshima shipyard will install the cranes onboard the vessels.
The vessels will be delivered during the second half of 2003 and at the beginning of 2004 to Norway’s Star Shipping and will be employed in Star’s worldwide forestry trades. Star Shipping is jointly owned by Masterbulk and Grieg Shipping of Norway. Star Shipping operates a fleet of 75 vessels of which 45 are open hatch ships and 30 conventional 40-50,000 tons bulkcarriers. The new improved and refined generation of ships are based on previous class of vessels owned by Masterbulk. However the increased capacity of the gantry cranes will reduce significantly the time of loading and unloading operations. Lower draft and higher tonnage allow more cargo to be carried through the Panama Canal and gives the new ships access to more low draft ports.
"This order for the new generation Konecranes-Munckloader is another example of Konecranes VLC’s capability to develop in a short period of time and in close co-operation with its customers advanced products, which greatly improve the customers’ performance and competitiveness”, says Mikko Uhari, President of Konecranes VLC Corporation.
In nine months Konecranes VLC has secured three orders for altogether 25 Konecranes-Munckloaders; in July 2000 Gdynia Shipyard ordered fourteen cranes to be installed on seven ships for US-based Westwood Shipping Line; in August 2000 the U.S. Maritime Administration ordered three cranes and now Oshima shipyard’s order for eight cranes.
Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. is well known in the shipping and shipbuilding industries. The shipyard specialises in the construction of dry cargo vessels mainly of 30,000 to 100,000 dwt type. The Shipyard builds 24 vessels per year with one building dock and has gained a reputation of high reliability, quality and performance. This is Oshima’s first project for Masterbulk Ptd. Ltd.
Konecranes VLC is part of the KCI Konecranes Group's Special Cranes Business Area and specialises in port, terminal and shipyard cranes and specific shipboard cranes.
KCI Konecranes, headquartered in Hyvinkää, Finland is the world's leading supplier of heavy-duty cranes for process industries. KCI Konecranes is a global supplier of special harbour cranes for bulk materials and containers and a leading provider of shipyard cranes. KCI Konecranes is also the industrialised world's leading provider of maintenance services for EOT cranes and one of the leading standard EOT crane and component builders. In 2000 Group sales totalled EUR 703 million with almost 4.500 employees in 34 countries throughout the world.
This press release together with a downloadable high-resolution picture of a Konecranes-Munckloader Crane is available at www.kcigroup.com at "Latest News".
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Mikko Uhari, President,
Konecranes VLC Corporation,
tel. +358- 20 427 2500
Mr. Jorma Antikainen, Director,
Konecranes VLC Corporation,
tel. +358- 20 427 2550
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Konecranes-Munckloader
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Downloadable high-resolution image:
img080800.exe TIF-file for PC, self-extr. (2.5 MB)
img080800.sit TIF for Macintosh, Stuffit (2.3 MB)
img080800.jpg JPEG-file (1177x777 px) (148 K)
