By Paul Avery
Konecranes will supply a full package of automated cranes and software for TIL’s Hadarom terminal at Ashod.
Konecranes has won a major contract for a port automation system from TIL for the new Southern Terminal at Ashod, which is called Hadarom. TIL won the concession for this terminal, which is being developed by the Israel Ports Authority. Pan Mediterranean Engineering, a subsidiary of China Harbour Engineering, is currently completing the civil works and the terminal is slated to open in 2021. TIL has earlier disclosed that the terminal will have and Automated Stacking Crane (ASC) yard system.
Panu Routila Konecranes CEO said the order is for a “complete automated container handling system for the greenfield Hadarom container terminal in Israel. Not only is the order the fourth largest ever received by Konecranes, the project is a major step in the execution of Port Solutions’ strategy. The order combines our own terminal operating system and our own equipment control system, our own automation technology as well as our container handling equipment, allowing us to deliver a complete line of automated container cranes and software intelligence. The order will be booked in Q1 2019”.
Konecranes did not disclose the value of the order, or the number of ASC cranes involved. Routila did, however, happen to mention that Konecranes third largest order was worth €110M and the fifth was around €75 million, so the Hadarom project is between that range.
From this it can be deduced that the order does not include STS cranes. Earlier information released by TIL showed Hadarom with eight STS cranes on one quay and four further STS cranes on a secondary quay running at 90 degrees to the main berths. The yard configuration showed 16 ASC blocks with a total of 32 ASCs. It is not known whether the contract with Konecranes covers all the ASCs, or a smaller number for a phased approach.
In any case, the more important detail is that the order covers Konecranes “own terminal operating system” (TOS), as well as the equipment control system and Konecranes automation technology. Konecranes added the Autostore TOS from the UK’s Central Systems and Automation (CSA) to its portfolio when it acquired part of Terex, which also saw Konecranes add TBA’s CONTROLS software. Konecranes subsequently rebranded CSA as TBA Leicester and invested in expanding its operation.
Konecranes is now effectively announcing that it has a TOS that can support an automated terminal, which puts it on the same footing as Kalmar in being able to offer a “complete package” for greenfield automation projects. This lends weight to the view that the port automation market will evolve to resemble other industrial automation markets, where there are two to four suppliers that can do the whole job, and customers pick a single supplier for a greenfield project, rather than trying to engineer the automation system themselves from multiple vendors.
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