Three Cranes for the Agri-Food, Industrial and MRE Sectors

Three new latest-generation Liebherr port cranes have been received at the Port of Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire.

One of the cranes will be added to the dedicated bulk agri-food cargo handling plant and equipment of terminal operator Montoir Bulk Terminal (MBT). The other two cranes will equip the Saint Nazaire port facility operated by Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire Port, where they will notably be used to handle the offshore wind turbine components for the future Banc de Guérande wind farm.

Having departed from the Port of Rostock on 29th November, the breakbulk vessel M/V Combi Dock I reached Montoir de Bretagne and Saint Nazaire early in December, with a cargo that included three cranes built in the German production facilities of crane manufacturer Liebherr, one of the world’s biggest port crane manufacturers.

At Montoir de Bretagne

With a capacity of 150 tonnes, the LPS 550 crane completes a range of plant and equipment utilized by terminal operator MBT. It will be deployed on the multi-bulk terminal, and will be used to unload bulk agri-foodstuffs destined for animal feed production, at the rate of 1 500 tonnes per hour.

In Saint Nazaire

In order to respond to the diversification and to the development of industrial sectors of activity, including the marine renewable energy sector, Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire Port has acquired two wheel-mounted mobile cranes. It will be possible to deploy these multi-purpose items of equipment at different quays at the Saint Nazaire port facility, including the Quai de la Forme Joubert quay, the site of offshore wind turbine assembly operations, and the Quai de la Prise d'Eau quay.

Respectively possessing a lifting capacity of 200 and 150 tonnes, and a reach of 56 and 54 metres, the LHM 600 and LHM 550 cranes are particularly well suited to the task of handling all types of heavy-lift and voluminous cargo consignments, notably offshore wind turbine components. They will be employed for the unloading, reversal and loading operations required for 175-tonne mast sections and 75-metre-long blades, in different configurations: twin operation or in tandem with the on-board cranes of the installation vessels. These new items of equipment represent an 8-million-euro investment by Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire Port.

Serving the MRE Sector

This new stage complements the improvements already made in order to support the development of the marine renewable energy sector on the Loire Estuary. Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire Port has succeeded in providing industrial, logistical and real-estate solutions through the synergy delivered by complementary port facilities. Since 2012, Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire Port has accommodated the General Electric (ex-Alstom) plant at the Montoir de Bretagne centre for industrial and logistical operations, redeveloped a 12-hectare site to transform it into a wind turbine pre-assembly logistics facility, and reinforced its quay infrastructures, as well as playing an active role in the work undertaken to re-route and to widen the Boulevard des Apprentis road link to the dimensions required to handle XXL cargo consignments.