The Port of Tallinn says two large container cranes arrived at HHLA TK Estonia’s terminal in Muuga Harbour on Wednesday morning. After commissioning, the cranes will allow services to be provided in Muuga to much larger container ships than those at the time being, which will make Estonia a more attractive trade hub.
“With the addition of the two cranes, in late autumn we will already be able to provide services to large post-Panamax ships in Muuga, making our container terminal much more attractive to all participants in the logistics chain,” said Riia Sillave, chair of the board at HHLA TK Estonia.
According to Riia Sillave, the information that Muuga terminal will soon be capable of rendering services to the largest vessels that can go through the Danish straits has already reached global shipping companies: “A demand for an increase in the handling capacity of terminals is clearly displayed by shipping companies in the global logistics business, and shipowners have already recognised our long-term investment”.
Valdo Kalm, the chairman of the board at the Port of Tallinn, expressed hope that the additional container handling capacity to be reached by the end of the year and the new emerging flexibility soon would have an effect on the amount of goods passing through Muuga Harbour.
“In addition to the short-term perspective, importance certainly lies in the long-term vision, which is the further development of Muuga Harbour, including the expected completion of Rail Baltic and the related new potential for trade in the south-north and east-west directions,” Valdo Kalm noted.
The cranes sent to Estonia by sea from the German port of Hamburg have lifting capacity of 70 tons, a height of 73 meters and an outreach of 50 meters. The cranes, which will be mounted on the 17th quay in Muuga Harbour, will allow services to be rendered to container ships whose capacity is up to 14,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). The container cranes currently used in Muuga Harbour allow HHLA TK Estonia provide services to vessels of up to 3500 TEU in capacity.
In the port of Muuga HHLA TK Estonia operates the leading multimodal cargo terminal of the entire Baltic Sea region. The terminal provides services to container ships, ro-ro vessels, general and bulk cargo ships, as well as handles the transhipment of goods transported by road and rail. The capacity of the container terminal is 600,000 TEU per year, plus 2.4 million tons of general and bulk cargo. The terminal can receive up to 16 ro-ro vessels per day.
HHLA TK Estonia is a part of the leading European logistics group Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) that operates container terminals in Hamburg, Odessa, Trieste and Muuga, as well as runs logistics interconnections and intermodal centres in many regions of Central and Eastern Europe.