Cosco Shipping Aries: First 20,000-TEU vessel at Tollerort
On 23rd February, Cosco Shipping Aries was the very first Chinese container vessel with a capacity of more than 20,000 standard containers (TEU) to call at the HHLA terminal Tollerort (CTT). There it was handled by five high-performance gantry cranes that HHLA has built in recent years for vessels of this size.
Cosco ships have been calling at the facility regularly since 1982. Frank Horch, Hamburg’s Minister for Economy, Transport and Innovation, and Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, were joined by representatives of the shipping company and the Chinese consulate in Hamburg to welcome the ship and celebrate the strong, long-standing collaboration between companies from both countries.
Angela Titzrath announced that HHLA would be upgrading another berth at Tollerort for vessels with a capacity of more than 20,000 TEU. HHLA currently has three berths for handling these mega-ships at its terminals Burchardkai (CTB) and Tollerort.
The CMA CGM Antoine de Saint-Exupéry will be the next ship of more than 20,000 TEU to call on its maiden voyage at the CTB in mid-March. From May onwards, the Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen will also be sending ships of this size to Tollerort.
Three of the five 20,000 TEU gantry cranes at Tollerort went into service in autumn 2017. Their other two identical models have been in operation there since early 2017. All five have a jib length of 74 metres and a lifting height of 51.5 metres above the quay wall. They are designed for container ships with 24 transverse container rows and can discharge and load two 20-foot containers simultaneously when operating in twin mode. The increased lifting height of the gantry cranes enables them to handle up to nine containers placed on top of one another on deck. Each container gantry crane weighs 1,500 tonnes and can handle a maximum payload of 63 tonnes.