Editing Container crane

{{Short description|Type of dockside gantry crane}}
{{refimprove|date=April 2014}}
[[File:PACECO Container Crane 2.jpg|thumb|An example of [[PACECO Corp.|Paceco]]'s early ship-to-shore crane]]
A '''container crane''' (also '''container handling gantry crane''' or '''ship-to-shore crane''') is a type of large [[dock (maritime)|dockside]] [[gantry crane]] found at [[container terminal]]s for loading and unloading [[intermodal container]]s from [[container ship]]s.

Container cranes consist of a supporting framework that can traverse the length of a [[quay]] or yard on a rail track. Instead of a hook, they are equipped with a specialized handling tool called a [[spreader (container)|spreader]]. The spreader can be lowered on top of a container and locks onto the container's four locking points ("corner castings") using a [[twistlock]] mechanism. Cranes normally transport a single container at once, but some newer cranes have the capability to pick up two to four 20-foot containers at once.

== History ==
Cranes were used in harbors starting in the [[Middle Ages]] (see [[Crane (machine)#Harbour usage|crane: harbor usage]] and [[list of historical harbour cranes]]). Modern inter-modal [[containerization]] emerged in the mid-1950s from transport strategies developed in the Second World War and the Korean War, and the development of specialized cranes paralleled developments in containerization.

The first container crane was built by [[PACECO Corp.]] for Matson at the Encinal Terminal in Alameda, California in 1959.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 5, 1983 |title=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers Dedicates an International Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark: The PACECO Container Crane |url=https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/resourcefiles/aboutasme/who%20we%20are/engineering%20history/landmarks/85-paceco-container-crane.pdf |access-date=May 31, 2022 |website=The American Society of Mechanical Engineers}}</ref>

== Types ==
[[File:Cranes in the Port of Bremerhaven.jpg|thumb|High-profile Cranes in the Port of [[Bremerhaven]]]]
There are two common types of container handling gantry crane: ''high profile,'' where the boom is hinged at the waterside of the crane structure and lifted in the air to clear the ships for navigation, and ''low profile,'' where the boom is shuttled toward and over the ship to allow the trolley to load and discharge containers. Low-profile cranes are used where they may be in the flight path of aircraft, such as where a container terminal is located close to an airport. The type of crane selected in [[container terminal design process]] is determined by the design vessel and local environment.

== Sizes ==
[[File:MARSEILLE MAERSK (2018) (26339401978).jpg|thumb|Low-profile super-post-Panamax cranes in the [[Port of Rotterdam]]. These cranes have an outreach of 25 rows of containers.]]
Container cranes are generally classified by their lifting capacity and the size of the container ships they can load and unload.

=== Smaller sizes ===
Smaller container cranes, such as [[straddle carrier]]s, are used at [[Siding (rail)|railway sidings]] to transfer containers from [[flatcar]]s and [[well car]]s to [[semi-trailer]]s or vice versa. Both the rolling stock and the trailers may pass under the base. Smaller container cranes are also used at [[Break-of-gauge#Containerisation|break-of-gauge]] [[Transloading#Transloading facilities|transloading facilities]].

=== Panamax ===
A [[Panamax]] crane can fully load and unload containers from a panamax class container ship capable of passing through the Panama Canal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pancanal.com/eng/maritime/notices/n01-05.pdf|title=Vessel Requirements|date=January 1, 2005|publisher=Panama Canal Authority|access-date=September 26, 2016|archive-date=June 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611094533/http://www.pancanal.com/eng/maritime/notices/n01-05.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Post-Panamax ===
A "post-Panamax" crane can load and unload containers from a container ship too large (too wide) to pass through the [[Panama Canal]].

=== Super-post-Panamax ===
[[File:Roberts Bank Superport aerial view 2014.jpg|thumb|[[Roberts Bank Superport]] aerial view (2014)]]
The largest modern container cranes are classified as "super-post-Panamax". A modern container crane capable of lifting two {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=mid}} long containers at once (end to end) under the telescopic spreader will generally have a rated lifting capacity of 65&nbsp;tonnes. Some new cranes have a 120-tonne load capacity, enabling them to lift up to four {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=mid}} or two {{convert|40|ft|m|adj=mid}} containers. Cranes capable of lifting six 20-foot containers have also been designed. Post-Panamax cranes weigh approximately 800–900&nbsp;tonnes, while the newer-generation super-post-Panamax cranes can weigh 1,600–2,000&nbsp;tonnes. The largest Super-post-Panamax cranes have an outreach of 26 container rows.<ref>{{Cite web|title=RWG ontvangt 's werelds grootste containerkranen|url=https://www.nieuwsbladtransport.nl/havens/2020/04/24/rwg-ontvangt-s-werelds-grootste-containerkranen/ |first1= Rob |last1=Mackor |date=24 April 2020 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2020-07-31|website=Nieuwsblad Transport|language=nl-NL }}</ref>

== Operation ==
[[File:Container ship loading-700px.jpg|thumb|All of the containers on the ''Rita'' have been loaded by cranes similar to this one, in the Port of [[Copenhagen]]]]
[[File:Patrick Port Botany.jpg|right|thumb|A [[MAN SE|MAN AG]] container crane belonging to [[Patrick Corporation]] at [[Port Botany]], [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]].]]

The crane is driven by an operator who sits in a cabin suspended from the trolley. The trolley runs along rails located on the top or sides of the boom and girder. The operator runs the trolley over the ship to lift the cargo, usually containers. Once the spreader locks onto the container, the container is lifted, moved over the dock, and placed on a [[Container chassis|truck chassis (trailer)]] to be taken to the storage yard. The crane also lifts containers from chassis on the dock to load them onto the ship.

[[Straddle carrier]]s, [[sidelift]]s, [[reach stacker]]s, or container [[Truck|lorries]] then manoeuvre underneath the crane base and collect the containers, rapidly moving them away from the dock and to a storage yard. [[Flatcar]]s or [[well car]]s may also be loaded directly beneath the crane base.

== Power ==
A crane can be powered by two types of [[power supply]]: a diesel engine–driven generator located on top of the crane or electric power from the dock. The most common is by electric power from the dock (also known as shore power). The voltage required may range from 4,000 to 13,200 [[volt]]s.

== See also ==
* [[Gantry crane]]
* [[Rubber tyred gantry crane]]
* [[Straddle carrier]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{commons category-inline|Intermodal containers}}
*{{commons category-inline|Container terminals}}

{{Intermodal containers}}
{{Cranes}}

[[Category:Cranes (machines)]]
[[Category:Intermodal containers]]
[[Category:Port infrastructure]]