First large "Ship To Shore" crane reaches Vado Ligure and will operate the new terminal

More than 90 metres high and over 1,800 tons in weight, it is the first of four APM Terminals Ship to shore cranes.


Vado Ligure (Savona), 7th December 2018 –The first STS (Ship to shore) crane has reached the port of Vado Ligure. It will operate in the APM Terminals container terminal currently under construction, 75% of which has already been completed.

The crane arrived today on a vessel, together with other four “yard” cranes (ARMG- Automated rail mounted gantry) after leaving China two months ago. The complex unloading operations will take approximately two weeks and they will be followed by a range of tests in the next few months.

The STS figures are impressive: over 90 metres in height, the crane weighs about 1,800 tons and has a “reach” capable of handling up to 23 rows of containers horizontally. The capacity amounts to 65 tons in “twin lift” configuration and 100 “under hook”.  A Technologically advanced, latest generation piece of equipment meeting the highest standards on the market. 

Its dimensions, together with the terminal drafts (16 to -23 metres in depth) and quays, well over 4.5 metres above the sea level, will allow the handling of latest generation vessels (ULCS – Ultra large container ships) in the port of Vado Ligure.

Another three STS cranes are due to arrive in Vado in Spring 2019, to support the start of the Terminal operations, expected for the end of 2019. 

Concerning the 4 ARMG cranes, these are part of a second delivery of equipment reaching Vado: the first six had been delivered in April. In total, the yard cranes operating in the terminal will amount to twenty-one.