Fleet of Sprinter Carriers Ordered

The HDC Hyundai Development Company of Korea has ordered a fleet of 28 Konecranes Noell Sprinter Carriers for Busan New Port 2-4 in Busan, Korea. The Sprinter Carriers will be delivered as part of the port’s expansion project 2-4. The order was booked in August 2020.

“The HDC Hyundai Development Company is a renowned developer of container terminals and we are proud to have received this repeat order as Busan New Port continues to expand,” said Peter Kania, Head of Sales for Straddle Carriers, Konecranes Port Cranes. “We delivered Sprinter Carriers as part of Busan New Port’s earlier growth phase. This further order is a vote of confidence and trust in the  performance and reliability of these machines as horizontal transport vehicles from the quayside, working closely with the automated stacking cranes in the container yard,” continued Kania. When the Sprinter Carriers on order are delivered and working, Busan New Port will have a Konecranes Noell Sprinter Carrier fleet of 64 machines.

The Sprinter Carriers on order are man-driven, diesel-electric machines stacking containers 1-over-1 as part of swift container transfer between the quayside and container yard. The first batch of twenty machines with single-lift spreaders, type NSC 424 E, will be delivered by the end of 2021. Four machines of type NSC 624 E, equipped with Konecranes Noell twin-lift spreaders, will be delivered by July 2022. The last four machines of type NSC 424 E, single-lift machines, will also be delivered by July 2022. All of the machines will be equipped with Stage IV diesel engines, and they will all have 8 wheels by special customer request to reduce ground pressure. The standard Konecranes Noell Sprinter Carrier has 6 wheels.

All of these Konecranes Noell Sprinter Carriers will have built-in readiness for automation. This puts Busan New Port on Kone­cranes’ path to port automation, where container terminals improve productivity and safety in manageable steps. The path to port automation applies to all container handling equipment brands. Full automation can be the final goal but it doesn’t have to be. Flexibility is the key.