Down-to-earth RTG for emerging markets

Konecranes today introduced a new rubber-tyred gantry crane (RTG), whose cabin is at ground level. The Boxhunter, which starts from $1.3 million, has been especially developed for the emerging markets.

“With today’s sophisticated video and laser technology it’s no longer essential to have the cab at the top of the crane,” explains Hannu Oja, director of technology for port cranes. “While bringing the cab down, we also relocated the hoisting machinery down to ground level. This simplifies the overall structure and brings a new ease of access to this machinery, which is great from the service perspective.”

The 8-wheeled Boxhunter is designed to maintain an average level of performance of around 15+ container movements an hour, which is lower than Konecranes’ top-of-the-range RTGs. The Finnish manufacturer says that it is part of a strategy to develop mid-priced products especially for the emerging markets in order to gain access to a new market segment.

The Boxhunter RTG was presented this Tuesday at TOC Singapore, with Konecranes noting that “Asia is very much the focus of growth today in the container handling industry.”

The crane stacks 1 over 5 and has a lifting capacity of 40.6t. It has counterweights to eliminate the weight of the spreader. And it can be delivered in containers.

BOXHUNTER has a simplified design that reduces manufacturing costs

Konecranes launches revolutionary container crane

Konecranes has introduced its first product especially developed for the emerging markets – the BOXHUNTER rubber tyred gantry (RTG) container handling crane – a completely new type of RTG that will give the company access to a new market segment.

Launched at the TOC Container Supply Chain Asia conference in Singapore, the machine is the outcome of intense product development to reinvent the design of RTGs for customers who do not require all the features or the peak performance of the company’s top-of-the-range RTGs.

Rather than try and simplify an existing RTG design, or rethink one through a series of incremental modifications to existing concepts, the company brainstormed its entire approach from scratch.

“We did this by focusing on the operator and the user interface,” said Mika Mahlberg, Konecranes’ vice president, port cranes. “The idea that we hit on was to turn things on their head, literally, bringing the operator down to ground level, the centre of things in terms of stacking and moving containers.”

“Traditionally, the operator’s cab on an RTG is located at the top of the crane. This is great for visibility over the containers, but with today’s sophisticated video technology, used on automated stacking cranes (ASC), it is no longer essential,” he suggested.

“We also decided to relocate most of the machinery driving the trolley and hoisting operations down to ground level. This simplifies the overall structure and brings a new ease of access to this machinery, which is great from the service perspective,” Mahlberg added.

Although the machine’s simpler structure reduces manufacturing costs, it can be equipped with extra operator-aiding, safety-enhancing features.

With Asia being the focus of growth in the container handling industry, the BOXHUNTER has been designed to maintain a steady, average level of performance, around 15+ container movements an hour, while still offering the high reliability and low downtime.

“There just isn’t a comparable RTG out there today that combines this level of innovation, this level of operator experience and this level of reliable performance.  Customers can also be assured that BOXHUNTER offers the same safety and quality as our other products,” said Hannu Oja, Konecranes’ director, port crane technology.