Dry Bulk at Port of Kokkola
In December 2009, Port of Kokkola in Western Finland made the decision to purchase a large Panamax-size crane for zinc concentrate discharging . The lead time for such a crane is approximately a year; therefore the new machine would not be operational before the end of 2010. It became necessary to have a machine in operation for this transitional period.
During the nine to ten month transition period over 400,000 tons of material needed to be handled, with the aim being to achieve the same efficiency that was achieved with the previous large cable cranes that were to be replaced.
The machine tasked with this was Mantsinen 120 R HybriLift®, because the reliability of Mantsinen machines was already known to the Port of Kokkola. Mantsinen was working to a tight schedule as the material handling contract was signed in December 2009 and the machine had to be operational in February 2010. Mantsinen's ability to react made the transition to a new machine a smooth one.
Besides the schedule, other factors which affected the decision on machinery were efficiency, energy consumption, and a special working environment with a high 14m hopper. The lifting capacity and the movement range of the Mantsinen 120 were enough to fulfil the high demands. The ease of use and reliability of the machine were also major factors.
Mantsinen provided operator training during the delivery process. Part of the training was conducted using the Mantsinen 110 simulator at the Kymi vocational school based in Kotka, Finland.
Port of Kokkola has been particularly impressed by the machine's maneuvering speed and reliability. Operators have noted that they have found the machine to be easy and pleasant to operate. The energy efficiency has been another positive aspect, confirming the fact that Mantsinen HybriLift® technology really works.
Efficiency targets for usage have been met or surpassed after just four months of operation.
The core activities of Port of Kokkola are handling of dry bulk, general cargo, containers, break bulk, neobulk, sawn timber and project cargoes as well as liquid bulk. The port location is excellent, serving the major part of Finnish export and import transports. An All Weather Terminal offers unique conditions for general cargo operations. Port has a safe draft of 13 m to allow Panamax class vessels up to 80.000 DWT to enter. Read more at Port of Kokkola site.
