Kalmar has announced it will supply 12 diesel electric straddle carriers to Forth Ports, one of the largest port operators in the United Kingdom.
Seven of them will operate at the London Container Terminal (Tilbury) and the remaining five at Forth Ports Grangemouth.
“We have been very happy with both the reliability of Kalmar straddle carriers and the local support available, so it was an easy choice to turn to Kalmar once again,” said Stuart Wallace, chief operating officer of Forth Ports.
“We are familiar with the new, next-generation machines, so we are confident they will build on the same excellent reliability and efficiency we have come to expect from Kalmar machines,” he added.
The order was placed in the first quarter of 2022 and delivery is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
“We look forward to strengthening our long-standing and successful partnership with Forth Ports with the delivery of this new order, continuing our great working relationship that began in 2005,” noted Mikko Mononen, Kalmar’s vice president, sales, EMEIA.
“The 8th-generation machines include a number of refinements and improvements developed in close collaboration with customers and have proven to be a reliable and dependable choice,” he continued.
The Kalmar Straddle Carrier is powered by a highly efficient diesel-electric power unit and offers quiet operation and easy maintenance. At the same time, it complies with the latest emission exhaust regulations.
London Container Terminal, located in the port of Tilbury, is the largest of the eight ports owned by Forth Ports and has annual handling of 16 million tonnes per year. The new machines will replace part of the current Forth Ports’ fleet with almost 40 Kalmar Straddle Carriers.
Forth Ports Grangemouth is Scotland’s largest port, handling nine million tonnes of cargo.