APM Terminals Wins 2011 Innovation Award

APM Terminals’ FastNet Crane concept was named the winner of the “Innovation in Ship Operations” category of the 23rd Annual Seatrade Awards held at the Guild Hall in London last night. The award was presented to APM Terminals’ Head of Design and Operations Ross Clarke by Her Royal Highness Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, who was the guest honor at the event attended by several hundred representatives of the shipping industry from around the world.

“Winning this award is a tremendous recognition of our efforts by such a prestigious organization, and is a tribute to our engineering staff who have made the FastNet project such a success” said Mr. Clarke, adding “we are so very proud of everyone involved in this achievement”.

The criterion for the Seatrade Innovation in Ship Operations award was that it be an innovative design or device which has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of any aspect of ship operations and/or cargo handling.  The entries were judged “on originality and imagination combined with the perceived practicality of the idea”, by a panel of nine industry experts headed by Chairman Efthimios Mitropaulos, Secretary‐General of the International Maritime

Organization (IMO). The Innovation Award, one of eight presented during the ceremony, was sponsored by the General Organization of Sea Ports‐Bahrain.

The winning FastNet crane technology developed by APM Terminals enables STS gantry cranes to simultaneously work adjacent bays of large container ships, effectively doubling crane productivity. The cranes are similar to existing upper works of cranes, but without the large portal frames beneath. The concept calls for STS cranes to be suspended from large horizontal girders 50 meters above wharf level, supported by intermediate frames. Consequently, the cranes are as narrow as a 40 foot container and can work adjacent hatches.

The operational flexibility is obtained by allowing the cranes to pass the frames using a gate in the boom structure, enabling the frames to move parallel to the quay to avoid blocking ship bays.  Eliminating the physical limitation on cranes working in adjacent bays allows the number of cranes deployed on a ship to be doubled, thus doubling productivity without any increase in the handling rate of individual cranes. The crane operation can be a normal rope towed trolley and even a twin 40’ dual hoist configuration. The large rail gauge of 55m combined with fixed openings allow for rapid and flexible exchange of containers between the quay and the yard.

First conceived in 2006, patents on FastNet cranes have now been filed in 17 nations as well as the 27 member countries of the EU following extensive engineering design work and comprehensive computer simulations.

Founded in 1970, Seatrade is a well‐known maritime industry  media organization covering the international cruise and shipping community.    Its publications, events, management training, industry awards and websites cover every aspect of cruise and maritime activity. Seatrade’s headquarters is located in Colchester, England, with regional offices in Dubai, Singapore, as well as representatives in all major maritime centers and cruise destinations around the world.

APM Terminals Head of Design and Development Ross Clarke with the Seatrade Innovation in Ship Operations Award at the Guild Hall in London last night. APM Terminals won for the FastNet Crane concept.

About APM Terminals

– providing the port and inland infrastructure to drive global commerce

APM Terminals is taking a leading role in addressing the critical issues facing the transportation industry. With customers and business partners, we’ve designed the world’s leading port and inland network to meet the shipping community’s needs today, tomorrow and in the future.

With more than 50 ports and 131 inland facilities in 65 countries – our goal is to offer the market more solutions than ever before to help companies and countries achieve their ambitions.

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Source: apmterminals, April 5, 2011;