Biggest cranes to sail up the Thames by ship

DP World London Gateway, Britain’s new deep-sea container port, will take delivery of three giant quay cranes in early March when the vessel Zhen Hua 26 floats up the Thames on the final leg of the cranes’ three month voyage from China.
The biggest ever to be delivered to the UK, the cranes are 138 metres tall – two and a half times the height of Nelson’s column – and are upright on the ship. Weighing 2,000 tonnes, it would be possible to roll the London Eye under the lifting arm.
These will be just the first quay cranes destined for London Gateway.  A further 21 will be delivered once construction on the six main berths is completed. The quay itself – where the cranes will sit – will be over 2.5 km in length once the port is fully operational.
Source: DP World London Gateway

Last Position Received

Area: North Sea
Latitude / Longitude: 51.8525° / 1.7984° (Map)
Speed/Course 6.6 knots / 346˚
Last Known Port: SHANGHAI
Info Received: 0d 7h 12min ago (AIS Source: 538)
Not Currently in Range
Itineraries History

Voyage Related Info (Last Received)

Draught: 9 m
Destination: LONDON SUNK P/S
ETA: 2013-03-01 05:00
Info Received: 2013-02-28 04:44 (0d, 9h 58min ago)

The London Eye … the Shard … Wembley Stadium … and, in around 24 hours’ time, London Gateway’s new quay cranes! Watch out tomorrow (1st March) for the arrival of an extraordinary shipment that will add three giant cranes to the iconic views from the River Thames.

These cranes – standing 138 metres tall and weighing 2,000 tonnes each – promise to be a fantastic sight as they sail into the Thames Estuary to berth at London Gateway at the end of their two-month voyage from China.

Due to arrive early morning, they will take the historic Port of London to new heights and put London Gateway on the map asTHE gateway for global trade.

And here are the statistics:

• The London Eye could be rolled underneath the new cranes;
• The cranes are taller than Wembley Stadium’s arch and two-and-a-half times the height of Nelson’s Column;
• They are the first in the UK to be able to lift four containers at once – a vital advantage in unloading the world’s largest ships in the most efficient way.
• They are specifically designed to serve the next generation of Ultra Large Container Ships – which will be nearly half a kilometre long and carry 18,000 TEU.

“These cranes will bring new innovation and efficiency to the supply chain industry,” says Simon Moore, London Gateway CEO. “A world-class deep-sea container port requires a world-class set of cranes. They will be the lynchpin of the operation – the biggest, most modern and most efficient the UK has ever seen.

“It won’t be long before importers and exporters across the country will be able to cut costs dramatically from their supply chains by choosing London Gateway, a port that is much closer to where goods need to go.”

The three cranes are the first of a series being built and delivered by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company (ZPMC). Two more started their voyage to London Gateway earlier this week and another 19 are planned for delivery over the next few years.

Ahsan Agha, London Gateway’s mechanical and electrical services manager, has been responsible for the design and build of the cranes. “Tomorrow will be a big day for the UK,” he says. “These state of the art cranes are future-proofing our ability to trade with the rest of the world.”

The cranes will operate on a new quay wall which is 2.7 kilometres in length with foundations that are 16 storeys (50 metres) deep into the ground.

London Gateway engineering director Andrew Bowen says: “London Gateway is built on new land created from material that we dredged from the existing shipping channel. So, these new cranes will be working on land that, up until a few months back, was in the sea."