Forth Ports orders new generation straddle carriers
Forth Ports, the UK’s major port operator, has booked 12 new straddle carriers from Kalmar, a part of Cargotec. The next generation diesel-electric machines will replace the outdated ones at the container terminal in Tilbury, close to London. Furthermore, the straddle carriers will meet the growing volumes of freight in Grangemouth, Scotland’s largest container and reefer terminal.

Kalmar will deliver 12 straddle carriers to Forth Ports by the end of 2022. Seven machines will be deployed at the London Container Terminal in the Port of Tilbury and the remaining five at the Port of Grangemouth near Edinburgh. “We look forward to strengthening our long-standing and successful partnership with Forth Ports with the delivery of this new order, continuing our great working relationship that began in 2005. The 8th-generation machines include a number of refinements and improvements developed in close collaboration with customers, and have proven to be a reliable and dependable choice,” noted Mikko Mononen, Kalmar’s vice president for sales in the EMEIA region.
Different application
Forth Ports will use the highly efficient, manoeuvrable straddle carriers from Kalmar for different purposes. At London Container Terminal, the largest of the eight terminals owned by Forth Ports with an annual throughput of 16 million tonnes, the new machines will replace part of the current fleet of nearly 40 Kalmar Straddle Carriers. Port of Grangemouth, which is located the midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, will deploy the ordered vehicles to meet the growing freight traffic that represents as much as 30 per cent of Scotland’s gross domestic product.