Liebherr was recently awarded a remarkable contract covering the delivery of six heavy lift ship cranes for the traditional German shipping company Rickmers.

Four of the heavy lift cranes are type CBB 4700 with a lifting capacity of 450 tonnes and the remaining two are type CBB 3450 with a lifting capacity of 120 tonnes. The positive trend in the heavy lift crane segment continues and Liebherr has confirmed its leading position with this contract, having won all the tendered contracts in recent times.

The six heavy lift cranes are being built by Liebherr-MCCtec Rostock GmbH and will be delivered to the customer in 2014. They will be installed on two ships in the well-known Hudong- Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai, China and in the future will handle heavy and general cargo all over the world.

In comparison with previous units of the same ship type, the crane capacities have been increased from 400 to 450 tonnes, thus improving the ships’ utilization.

The heavy lift cranes of the proven CBB series excel in their fast and precise Litronic® control system, which is also used in offshore and mobile harbour cranes. Moreover, the CBB cranes have a comparatively low total weight and a low centre of gravity. This advantageous design enhances the ships’ stability.

Thanks to the worldwide service network and the high degree of vertical integration Liebherr serves its customers as a competent partner through the entire life cycle of the crane.

PARTNERSHIP WITH LONG TRADITION

Business relations between Liebherr and Rickmers date back to the seventies. In 1985 a special board crane emerged from the co-operation between the two owner-managed family businesses. For the first time the crane was positioned at the side of a container vessel rather than on the vessel’s centreline. Due to this new positioning and the low width of the cranes, valuable additional loading space on board the vessels was gained. Today, Liebherr handles a large number of its heavy lift sea transportations with the aid of ‘Rickmers-Linie’, a regular world- wide service for project cargo. The co-operation between the two companies will perhaps be further consolidated in the future with the modernization of Rickmers’ fleet through the planned construction of several new vessels.

FOCUS ON HEAVY LIFT CRANE SEGMENT

This contract emphasizes Liebherr’s increased focus on the maritime heavy lift crane segment, as announced by the company during the SMM in Hamburg, the biggest trade fair of the shipbuilding industry. The range of heavy lift ship cranes will be extended by one type per year. In future, cranes with lifting capacities of up to 1,000 tonnes will be included in the ship crane portfolio.

LIEBHERR

The Liebherr Group comprises more than 130 companies across all continents with approximately 37,800 employees. In 2012 Liebherr achieved a consolidated turnover of €9.1 billion. The Liebherr Group’s holding company is Liebherr-International AG in Bulle/Switzerland, which is entirely owned by members of the Liebherr family.

RICKMERS GROUP

Rickmers Group is an international shipping company in the business segments Maritime Assets, Maritime Services and Rickmers-Linie. Rickmers manages a fleet of almost 100 vessels with 3,000 employees at sea and 480 employees ashore .The business segment Rickmers-Linie operates a fleet of 18 multi- purpose heavy lift vessels, which offers a regular world-wide service for heavy lift and project cargo.