10th May 2010


The operational capability of London Thamesport has been boosted by the arrival of a new ship-to-shore gantry crane. The new crane is the second new arrival in two years at the Kent port, bringing the total number of ship-to-shore gantry cranes to eight. It was delivered by Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) of Shanghai.

The ultra post-panamax unit is capable of handling the latest generation of container ships. It has an outreach of 62.5 metres, and the crane can handle vessels with containers stowed 22-wide on deck.

Commenting on the new arrival, David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison Ports (UK) Limited, which owns London Thamesport, said:

“This new crane is further evidence of our continued commitment to investing in London Thamesport and maintaining its position as one of the UK’s leading container terminals. With eight cranes at the port, there is capacity to accommodate additional traffic, and by ensuring the availability of state-of-the-art equipment, we are able to offer the quickest vessel turnarounds for our customers.”

The new crane has an 85-tonne heavy lift capability, and will be able to twin-lift twenty foot containers. The electrical drive system is to be supplied by Siemens and based upon the Siemens Master Drive system.

The operator’s cabin is being supplied by Merford Cabins of The Netherlands. The special "Ergo" cabin is similar to those used on existing cranes at London Thamesport and is specially designed to provide a pleasant and ergonomic working environment to improve the performance of the operators and the efficiency of the crane.

The arrival of the new crane coincided with the granting of outline planning permission for a vast business park in North Kent, on the doorstep of London Thamesport. The application for the Grain Business Park was submitted by Thamesport Interchange, which plans to use the 164ha site for industrial and port related purposes.


ENDS

Note to Editors:

For further information please contact Paul Davey, Head of Corporate Affairs on Tel No: +44 (0) 1394 602063, Fax No: +44 (0) 1394 604943 or E-mail: daveyps@hpuk.co.uk www.londonthamesport.co.uk.


London Thamesport (LTP) is located in the heart of Southeast England, 10 miles from the M2 motorway, 35 miles from London. It is one of the UK’s busiest container ports. LTP is a member of the Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) Group. HPH, a subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa Limited (HWL), is the world's leading port investor, developer and operator with interests in a total of 50 ports, spanning 25 countries throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. HPH also owns a number of transportation-related service companies