- North America’s larger ports continue to increase capacity with the dredging and air drafts receiving attention. As bigger post-Panamax boxships begin to arrive, truck turn times and TEU moves per hour can be improved.
- ZPMC is currently the only company in the world that manufactures low profile super post-Panamax rail mounted container gantry cranes.
- A big advantage for the terminals as cranes can easily move around and avoid conflicts with terminal operations.
- ZPMC designed and developed the frames,w hich are patented. Two of the jacking frames load off the dock, and two are designed to jack the crane from its own structure to avoid putting any extra weight on the pier.
- ZPMC claims a 70% global market share of the STS Crane market and has delivered more than 200 STS cranes in 2016 alone.
With respect to post-Panamax boxships, innovative and evolving supply chain of cranes is the ultimate answer for port production, reports Maritime Professional.
ZPMC – Celebrated leader in crane supply chain
As 2019 passes its midpoint, the backlog 2019, one firm, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (ZPMC), a global heavy-duty equipment manufacturer listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, finds itself as the undisputed leader of the container crane supply chain.
The reason being ZPMC’s turnkey model is unlike any other in this market sector, and its innovation arguably second-to-none. Moreover, the firm’s North American backlog is robust and it is growing.
At a time of unprecedented port growth in this hemisphere, variables such as a trade was can slow down this progress.
As the trade spat between the U.S. and China heats up, ZPMC has as much skin in the game as anyone. In late June testimony before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington, port advocates weighed in on the issue.
Glenn Wiltshire, Acting Chief Executive and Port Director at Port Everglades, testified, “It is of critical importance to the Port for the Committee to remove gantry cranes, classified in subheading 8426.19.00, Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), from the list of items that would be subject to ad valorem duty up to 25 percent. A 25 percent duty would immediately increase Port costs by $10,350,000 for a current gantry crane order.”
Super post-Panamax rail mounted container gantry cranes
ZPMC is currently the only company in the world that manufactures low profile super post-Panamax rail mounted container gantry cranes.
There has not been a rail mounted container gantry crane manufactured in the United States in many decades. In separate testimony, Kurt Nagle, the outgoing President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), said that they are deeply disappointed in ship-to-shore cranes and other tariff codes that include port equipment. He added that they strive to avoid increasing the cost of infrastructure through the imposition of new tariffs.
ZPMC turnkey service
As this issue of MLPro went to production, AAPA and its member ports were making best efforts to make sure the ship-to-shore gantry cranes would not be added to the tariff list. That’s because the increased cost of these cranes might cause ports to rethink their expansion plans to handle the new mega-container vessels. It might also prompt them to look at yet another rapidly emerging ZPMC turnkey service.
The profusion of projects has become routine for ZPMC USA in its third full year as official service provider for ZPMC North America in the U.S. and Caribbean.
U.S. Service centers
ZPMC has opened six U.S. service centers. Each service center serves as a central location for customers to get local service. Recently, the raising of existing cranes has become much more common, with the reasons being Price and timing.
Jeff Rosenberg, ZPMC Crane Service’s VP of Sales & Marketing, said that new crane deliveries are now 12-18 months away and typically can raise a crane in three to four months (after engineering), and at about one-third the price of a new crane.
Rosenberg says that new cranes are going for $10 to $12 million, and raising a crane costs about $4 million. Given the uncertainty in today’s trade climate, it is very evident why ZPMC’s unique ability to raise and/or alter an existing structure is so attractive.
In May, Rosenberg told MLPro that ten cranes at APM in Los Angeles had been raised; four more in Charleston and three of nine in New Jersey had been completed. Scores more, internationally, had also been accomplished. In fact, as much as 30% of ZPMC’s existing business involves crane alterations.
Self-propelled modular trailers
The same proprietary care and expertise that ZPMC applies to its new build efforts also goes into any alteration of existing units, because it involves raising a crane as efficiently as possible. “We also relocate cranes using our own SPMT’s (self-propelled modular trailers),” explained Rosenberg, who continued, “This is a big plus for the terminals as we can easily move cranes around to place them out of the way while they are being worked on, to avoid conflicts with terminal operations.”
A number of factors are to be considered before raising a crane. Myriad design issues precede every operation.
As port customers are looking to upgrade local equipment, two big issues need to be considered when contemplating what to do next. Specifically, as they look for height, the weight of these new cranes is becoming a factor as existing docks were not built for the new wheel loads.
Crane raising
The purpose of ‘crane raising’ is to accommodate the large post-Panamax tonnage, but this involves (to date) an increase in height only, as opposed to also having an increased outboard reach.
The higher crane really does provide that much more of an advantage, especially given the ever-increasing beam of these newer vessels. Rosenberg agrees, saying, “We haven’t been asked to extend any booms yet. I also believe there was some forethought on the part of the terminals, ordering cranes with booms for 22 TEU’s width.”
Increase of capacity
Now, as the enlarged Panama Canal brings exactly what was promised, that sort of forethought is also proving to be prescient. “Yes, it’s all about larger ships. We are in the ‘raising cycle’ right now. Most terminals have at least a few new cranes large enough to attract the larger ships. Now they are raising their older cranes to increase capacity.”
Indeed, raising STS cranes is fast becoming the signature project for ZPMC USA. ZPMC has four proprietary jacking systems available for crane raise work in the U.S. that accommodates varying pier loading situations and height increases.
Patented, devised and designed by ZPMC
Two of the jacking frames load off the dock, and two are designed to jack the crane from its own structure to avoid putting any extra weight on the pier. Rosenberg explains, “These are patented systems; devised and designed by ZPMC.”
The scope of these projects is enormous. In fact, the tallest port crane in North America was recently raised to that height by ZPMC, which raised the crane 33 feet (10.08 meters) to prepare for Ultra-Large Container Vessels calling at APM Terminal’s Pier 400.
In a landmark project that kicked off July 1, 2016, ZPMC upgraded 10 cranes for APM’s Pier 400 Terminal. The cranes can now service ships carrying up to 20,000 twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEUs). Prior to this crane raise, the largest vessels that could be serviced at the Port of Los Angeles were 13,000 TEUs.
ZPMC
ZPMC impressively owns and operates 25 heavylift ships ranging in capacity from 60,000 to 100,000 DWT, delivering products all over the world. ZPMC North America is the operating company for North America, and ZPMC Crane Services is its North American service subsidiary.
The firm has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 30,000 personnel. With eight factories in the Shanghai area, the firm claims a 70% global market share of the STS Crane market.
The firm delivered more than 200 STS cranes in 2016 alone. The year 2019 promises more of the same. Nevertheless, and beyond the crane raising trend, ZPMC isn’t sitting on its hands.
The process of acquiring or shedding a container crane is a carefully planned event – in and of itself a supply chain; all its own. The success or failure of that kind of operation can be the ‘make or break’ for any port in the fast moving world of ever bigger boxships. Now, with the rapidly expanding crane raising option, ports not only get it done faster, it’ll be far cheaper.
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Source: Maritime Professional
