Quayside Container Cranes in Year 2013

In this paper, design specifications for a new generation container crane in year 2013 is investigated. After analyzing the trend of the development of container cranes from the 1950s to date, a prospective size for targeting year 2013 is proposed. Introductory specifications of the frame, trolley, hoist and spreader for the proposed new crane are discussed. Considering that the mega-ships will load and unload more than 15000 boxes at one stop, rough dimensions of the crane including outreach, rail gage, lift, backreach, etc. are also suggested. Although the sheer size of the cranes already present some challenges, the biggest challenge is to improve productivity by maximizing the moves per hour. For this, the speeds of trolleys and hoists, rail loads, stability, etc. are discussed.