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A container crane (also known as a container handling gantry crane or ship-to-shore crane) is a large dockside gantry crane located at a container terminal for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships.
Container cranes consist of a supporting frame that can span a quay or yard on rail tracks. Instead of hooks, they come with a special handling tool called a spreader.The spreader can be lowered onto the top of the container and locks onto the container at four locking points ("corner castings") using a twist-lock mechanism.Cranes typically transport one container at a time, but some newer cranes are capable of lifting two to four 20-foot containers at a time.
Types 
There are two common types of container-handling gantry cranes: tall, where the boom is articulated at the water's edge of the crane structure and raised in the air to clear ships for sailing, and low, where the boom shuttles back and forth to allow trolleys to load and unload containers.Low-profile cranes are used where they may be in the flight path of aircraft,such as container terminals close to airports.The type of crane selected during the container terminal design process is determined by the design vessel and the local environment.
Sizes
Container cranes are generally classified according to the lifting capacity and the size of the container ship that can be loaded and unloaded.
Smaller size
Smaller container cranes,such as straddle carriers, are used on rail spurs to transfer containers from flatbed and well trucks to semi-trailers and vice versa.Both rolling stock and trailers can pass under the base. Small container cranes are also used in open-gauge transfer facilities.
Panamax
Panamax cranes can fully load and unload containers from Panamax container ships capable of passing through the Panama Canal.
Post-Panamax
"Post-Panamax"cranes can load and unload containers from container ships that are too large (too wide) to pass through the Panama Canal.
Super-post-Panamax
Roberts Bank Superport aerial view (2014)
The largest modern container cranes are classified as "super post-Panamax".A modern container crane capable of lifting two 20 ft (6.1 m) long containers at a time (end to end) under a telescopic spreader is typically rated at 65 tons.Some newer cranes have a load capacity of 120 tons and can lift up to four 20-foot (6.1 m) or two 40-foot (12 m) containers.A crane capable of lifting six 20-foot containers was also designed. Post-Panamax cranes weigh around 800-900 tons,while the new generation of Post-Panamax cranes can weigh up to 1,600-2,000 tons.Largest Post-Panamax crane extends to 26 rows of containers.
Operation
All containers on board Rita are loaded in the port of Copenhagen by a crane similar to this one
MAN AG container cranes from Patrick at Port Botany,New South Wales,Australia.
The crane is driven by an operator sitting in a cab suspended from a trolley.The trolley runs along rails located on top or to the side of booms and girders.Operators run trolleys on board to lift cargo, usually containers.Once the spreader is locked onto the container, the container is lifted, moved across the dock, and placed on a truck bed (trailer) for transport to the yard.The cranes also lift containers from the dock's chassis to load them onto ships.A straddle carrier, sidestacker, reachstacker or container truck then maneuvers under the crane base and collects the containers,moving them quickly from the dock to the yard.Flatbed or well trucks can also be loaded directly under the crane base.
Power
The crane can be powered by two types of power sources: a generator driven by a diesel engine located on top of the crane or electricity from the dock. The most common is electricity from the marina (also known as shore power). Required voltage may be between 4,000 and 13,200 volts.A container crane is a large dockside gantry crane located at a container terminal for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships.
