Watching a container ship being loaded or unloaded is truly a fascinating experience. These ships are absolutely staggering in terms of their size. Typically, they are loaded to the brim with shipping containers filled with all sorts of goods and merchandise. When they arrive at the port or dock, all of these containers need to be quickly unloaded from the ship. The fastest and easiest way to accomplish this is by using container cranes (Grúa pórtico para contenedores).
These are specially designed gantry cranes that are mounted next to the water on the dock. One arm of the crane extends out over the water. When the ship comes into port, it pulls up into the container terminal next to the crane. From here, a specialized tool known as a spreader moves out along the arm of the crane and over the ship. It then drops down and locks onto a shipping container. Once it is firmly locked in place, it lifts the container and moves it onto the shore. There are two types of container cranes: rail mounted gantry crane (grúas pórtico montadas sobre raíles) and rubber tyred gantry crane. The first one is fixed with rails on the ground and the second one can move to all the places with wheels.
The process of loading ships is the exact opposite. Containers are moved from the dock onto the ship using one of these cranes. Interestingly, the crane operator actually rides in a small, glass-enclosed cabin that is attached to the trolley of the crane (Carro de la grua). The operator moves the trolley back and forth across the boom to transport containers to or from the deck of the ship.
The sheer size of these cranes is truly amazing. Many port cities have viewing platforms where you can watch container ships being loaded and unloaded. If you have never seen one of these cranes in action, it is well worth visiting one of these viewing platforms to see how they work.
There are quite a few different classifications for container cranes. Typically, they are categorized based on how much weight they can lift as well as the size of ships that they are capable of loading and unloading. Most of these cranes are designed with a capacity of approximately 40 tons. These classifications are usually assigned based on the maximum ship width that they can handle. For instance, post-Panamax cranes are designed to load and unload ships that are about 18 containers wide. Super-post-Panamax cranes, on the other hand, are designed to load and unload ships that are 22 or more containers wide.
As you can well imagine, operating one of these giant gantry cranes takes a lot of power. There are two basic ways that the cranes get their power. Some container cranes are designed to be powered by electricity while others run on diesel. Either way, they require a tremendous amount of power in order to lift and move such heavy loads.
Container cranes are absolutely essential when it comes to loading or unloading ships at any port or dock. They are specially designed to make quick work of moving containers from one area to another. The right size and type of crane can make the process of loading one of these giant ships as efficient as possible. In the long run, this can speed up transport times, minimizing the cost (Minimizar el coste) of importing or exporting goods. You can get a container crane with stable structure and reliable service in http://ellsengruaportico.es/grua-portico-para-contenedores/.