Unique world-class portal cranes are designed and manufactured at the Port of Riga
AS RIKON is a company operating in the port of Riga, whose main field of activity is the design and manufacture of portal cranes. The company successfully competes with the world's leading German, Finnish and Chinese portal crane manufacturers and is determined to win and strengthen its position in the Western European markets in the coming years, says press center of the Freeport of Riga.
Until now, the main markets for AS RIKON products were Russia, Georgia and Ukraine, where the company's portal cranes and equipment have been operating in the ports of these countries for many years. Recently the company has started building cranes for western clients and the first successful projects have been implemented. In cooperation with LM Wind Power, a Danish subsidiary of the General Electric Group (US), a special gantry crane equipped with a unique 70-meter-sized traverse to grab and transport wind turbine parts was designed and manufactured. Furthermore, recently in the port of Marseille, which is the largest French port and the third one in the Mediterranean region, a new assembly gantry crane, designed and manufactured by AS RIKON, has been mounted and put into operation with the aim to provide for cruise liners‘ repair works.
It should be noted that the competitiveness of AS RIKON in the market is facilitated by investing in testing and development of new innovative solutions. A few years ago, the company created a prototype mobile crane that can be used to service Panamax vessels, and now the first order for this type of crane has been received.
“A modern portal crane is a complex technological structure “with eyes and brains”. Its work is controlled and regulated not only by humans, but also by IT solutions and countless sophisticated sensor systems, which provide for smooth and safe handling. Our ability to adapt, create innovative solutions and a quality product is our competitive advantage,” said Mihails Baškankovs, Commercial Director of AS RIKON.
"Our competitors are building mobile cranes that are inseparable from the platform ensuring their relocation. We have designed and are already producing a system where the platform can be separated from the crane. Thus, several cranes can be moved within the port area on one platform, and this platform with a load capacity of 400 t can operate as a separate additional tool for cargo transportation. As far as I know, there are no such cranes anywhere else in the world,” added M. Baškankovs.
The company's representative also mentioned that there are many new orders for next year, so AS RIKON has to expand production capacity and hire new employees.
“We are pleased that AS RIKON, which has been able to maintain a consistently high quality standard for almost twenty years, is operating in the territory of the Port of Riga,” said Ansis Zeltins, the Freeport of Riga CEO. “We hope that the development course chosen by the Freeport Authority - to strengthen the Port of Riga as an industrial zone, where both high value-added companies and production facilities operate together - will be an additional support for every company fostering its growth and development, promoting new competitive synergies and strategic partnership within the port cluster in the future,” noted A. Zeltins.
There are only a few companies in the world that manufacture such cranes. The largest of them are from Germany, Finland and China, and there are a few more companies that control the entire market. The cranes created by AS RIKON are able to operate and safely perform their functions in both Arctic and tropical climates. Cranes designed to work in the Arctic shall be able to perform safely even at -50 degrees C, so they are made of high-strength steel and metal alloys, while special painting technologies are used in warmer and wetter climates. Every manufactured part, every weld is subjected to careful quality control and certification procedure.
AS RIKON is one of the 210 companies working in the Freeport of Riga. According to the information compiled by the Freeport of Riga Authority, the port companies pay ~ 29 million euros in taxes every year and employ more than 4,100 people.