Liebherr to supply its 100th Mobile Harbour Crane to Africa

In March 2012, the one hundredth Liebherr mobile harbour crane for the African continent is going to be delivered to APM Terminals Apapa. (Picture: Liebherr)

Liebherr celebrates a major milestone. In March 2012, their one hundredth mobile harbour crane for the African continent is going to be delivered to APM Terminals Apapa. Their fleet will then comprise nine heavy-duty machines.

In 1976, just two years after entering the mobile harbour crane business, Liebherr supplied their first two mobile harbour cranes to Africa. Dedicated to container handling, both mobile harbour cranes were destined for Libya. In the next two decades business was poor due to serious stability issues, quests for independence as well as low economic development in various African countries.

However, two deliveries to ports in South Africa and Namibia mark the significant turnaround in 1996. These machines represent the first cranes suitable for bulk handling in Africa. From that point on business has been back on track. In 2001, a first remarkable peak was achieved with seven deliveries to customers in Namibia and Nigeria.

In 2011, only a few months after market introduction of Pactronic, four mobile harbour cranes of ype LHM 550s equipped with Liebherr’s hybrid drive system started operation in Africa. This technology provides several key advantages for both crane operators, Sogester in Angola and Intel Nigeria. In terms of turnover capacity, this accumulator allows an increase by 30 per cent leading to notably shorter demurrage. Additionally, Pactronic leads to a reduction of fuel consumption as well as CO₂ and exhaust emissions in the range of 30 per cent depending on the operation.

In March 2012, Liebherr is going to deliver its one hundredth mobile harbour crane, type LHM 550, to APM Terminals Apapa. Their fleet will then comprise nine heavy-duty machines operating at terminals in Benin, Luanda and Apapa. Being one of Liebherr’s major customers in Africa, APM Terminals Apapa has played an important role in reaching this 100th delivery milestone in early 2012.