APM Terminals concluded a contract with Austrian-based crane manufacturer Hans Kuenz GmbH in combination with ABB of Sweden for an additional 22 Automated Rail – Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMGs), the company said in its press release. The order will bolster the yard operation for Phase I of the new 2.7 TEU million annual capacity , deep-water Maasvlakte II terminal in the Netherlands which will begin operations in November 2014.Maasvlakte, Netherlands
The 30 – meter wide ARMGs will use a fully automated technologically advanced system to load and unload containers onto and off of external truck chassis, and onto a fleet of 37 battery – powered Lift Automated Guided Vehicles (Lift AGVs) in what will be the world’s most technologically advanced container terminal.
Maasvlakte II’s innovative design is based upon using ship-to-shore (STS) cranes to unload containers from vessels and place them directly on the Lift AGVs, which can carry two containers at a time, and automatically bring them from the quay to the container yard using an onboard navigation system following a transponder grid. Once the Lift AGV arrives at its programmed destination, it places the containers into a series of storage racks. The ARMG then arrives to move the container from the rack to its next designated location; the rail terminal, a waiting truck or another area of the storage yard.
