Replacement crane will speed work at port

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 1

Replacement crane will speed work at port

The Lyttelton container terminal should return to near-normal soon with the expected arrival on Monday of its second replacement crane.

The Samba crane is being shipped to Lyttelton from Britain in the small cargo vessel Fairload. It should take between four and five weeks to erect, and once installed it will serve until the original crane, damaged in a berthing accident on February 15, is repaired. The terminal manager, Mr Bill Siddall, said the Samba crane had been specially manufactured for temporary use, by Sea Containers, Ltd, of Britain. “It lies packed up on the dock waiting for a disaster to happen,” he said. A self-erecting crane, the Samba can be assembled

much quicker than standard container cranes. When it arrives its legs will be spread along railway tracks spider-fashion, and the legs will then be heaved together by mobile cranes, raising the whole structure. The Samba is the same height as the damaged crane and has almost the same reach. Mr Siddall said the time the crane would take to erect would depend on the availability of mobile cranes. Engineers were coming from London to assist with the erection. The Samba had 80 per cent of the performance capacity of the Pacego

crane which was damaged, he said. The Samba should handle an average of 22 containers an hour, compared with the Pacego’s rate of about 26. Containers are being handled at present by a mobile crane on lease from an Auckland firm. The crane handles about eight containers an hour. Most of the superstructure of the damaged crane has been railed to Dunedin, where it is being repaired at Dunedin Engineering, Ltd. A senior assistant engineer of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, Mr Barry Knowles, said that most of the superstructure had been repairable. The crane is expected to be ready for use again in late December.