In the fourth quarter of 2018, JingJiang Port Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd. ordered two Konecranes Gottwald Model 8 floating cranes. To be operated by Cosco Shipping Bulk Co., Ltd. (Cosco), the cranes will handle bulk off the coast of Guinea, Africa as of the end of 2019. 

Cosco Shipping Bulk Co., Ltd. (Cosco) is a subsidiary of one the world’s leading shipping companies, China Cosco Shipping Corporation Limited, and a new customer for Konecranes Gottwald floating cranes. The cranes for Cosco will tranship bauxite for the production of aluminum fr-om river barges onto ocean-going Panamax vessels on the open sea. With these two cranes, the number of Konecranes Gottwald floating cranes in operation on the western coast of Africa totals ten. 

Mr. ZhiJun Fan, General Manager of Technical Division of Cosco: “We will operate the two floating cranes within the framework of our cooperation with China Aluminum group, an important step in the implementation of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative. The aim is to transport bauxite fr-om Guinea to the aluminum plants in China. As transhipping raw materials at sea quickly and safely plays a key role in the supply chain, we opted for Konecranes Gottwald Floating Cranes. These cranes have proved themselves in Africa and beyond as particularly productive and reliable in rough open sea environments.” 

Giuseppe Di Lisa, Sales and Marketing Director of Konecranes' Business Unit Mobile Harbor Cranes: “We are proud that a global market leader like Cosco has opted for our technology for their bauxite transhipping operations in western Africa. The rapidly growing number of Konecranes Gottwald floating cranes around the globe confirms our leading position in this segment once again. Based on mobile harbor crane technology and launched in 2004, our floating cranes expanded their capabilities quickly fr-om transhipping mid-stream to operation on the open sea.” 

Built for use on the open sea, the two Model 8 floating cranes for Cosco are designed in accordance with Lloyd’s Register Code for Lifting Appliances in a Marine Environment, which allows them to be operated at wind speeds up to 24 m/s and maximum wave heights of 2.5 m. Both cranes offer a maximum outreach of 43 m and a powerful 63 t grab curve for continuous-duty bulk handling.

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About Konecranes

Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment of all makes. The Group has 17,000 employees at 600 locations in 50 countries. Konecranes class A shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki (symbol: KCR).