Portunus Port Spares and Services from Turkey signed a contract with TCDD – Turkish State Railways for N.5 Ship To Shore Gantry Crane’s complete refurbishment and the project kicked-off in the end of 2011. In a very short time, Portunus completed the first ship to shore gantry crane and handed it over to Turkish State Railways (TCDD) company in June 2012.

After cancelling privatization of Izmir Port, Turkish State Railways (TCDD) decided to renew its facility. In the meantime, two new container ports have been established in İzmir area and also APM Terminal announced that they are planning to launch new container terminal in the same area. To compete with existing ports and prepare for potential additional competition, TCDD wanted to refurbish their ship to shore gantry cranes and last year Portunus took the job.

Portunus Port Spares & Services Sales Manager H. Onder TURKER pointed out: “Portunus was established in 1992 and with 20 years of experience, we achieved this success. I have to say that we are proud of our services. On the other hand, we are also very happy for our country, Turkey, to have such a good conditioned ship to shore gantry crane!”

Portunus started this project at the end of 2011 and almost changed the soul of the crane. All steel structures had been checked by Lyodd and without changing any major dimensions, necessary repairs have been completed. These include: operator cabin to wire ropes, brakes, buffers, all points have been checked, repaired or replaced. New elevator has been installed as well. Considering 40*C weather conditions in the summer time, this will make operators and technicians’ life much easier. PLS system has been replaced completely with a new system.

Portunus Sales Manager H. Onder TURKER added: “Manufacturer of this crane does not exist anymore. Because of this special condition, it was not easy to find same parts which were on the crane. Therefore, we decided to install our own system and thanks to Portunus engineers, this crane became one of the best cranes in the world!”

“Comparing to new crane purchasing prices, refurbishment deals are a great alternative for port managements, especially if they have limited budgets. The most important thing is to choose the correct company. Portunus completed refurbishment projects in Yemen, Georgia, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, etc. and proved its success. As a result, we are planning to announce new deals very soon.”