Cargotec continues to develop its range of Kalmar straddle carriers with an environmental focus.  The latest addition to the product range is the Electrical Shuttle Carrier, ESH W, which provides higher productivity with lower emissions.   Ilkka Annala, Vice President of Kalmar Straddle Carriers, Cargotec says:  “With our original Kalmar Shuttle Carrier we revolutionised quayside productivity in mega-terminals by eliminating waiting times with decoupling of vessel and yard operations. In addition to increasing terminal productivity, our customers are now building more sustainable operations. This need triggered the launch of our new Electrical Shuttle Carrier, the ESH W, for manual or fully automated operations.”

“With the Electrical Shuttle Carrier, we combine the possibilities of the latest green technology with high productivity. The new power package with variable speed generator technology features a stage 3a engine with SCR (specific catalytic reduction) technology and an electrically controlled viscous fan. The power package is thus ready for hybrid use. The shuttle carrier has an electrical drive, an electrical winch hoist, and in the hybrid version also an electrical brake control for optimised energy recovery when braking.”

“With this technology we have reduced fuel consumption, lowered CO2 emissions. Additional options for lowering emissions even further include an energy storage system and a stop-and-go feature, which shuts down the engine when not moving.”

The Electrical Shuttle Carrier is part of the 7th generation range of Kalmar straddle and shuttle carriers. As many as possible of the already proven Straddle Carrier components and technical solutions have been used in the development of the ESH W. In automated mode, the Shuttle Carrier navigates with the patented magnetic measurement system, Kalmar MMS, while the Kalmar Terminal Logistic System (TLS) controls its operations.

 
One of the key productivity benefits of the shuttle carrier is its ability to set down and pick up containers on the ground, eliminating waiting times. Ship-to-shore cranes lift containers from the vessel and place them on the ground, under the crane's back reach, from where they are then collected by shuttle carriers and transported to the automatic stacking crane buffer area. This combination of equipment working together achieves high productivity with the lowest number of horizontal transportation vehicles.