The world's largest reach stacker for Blue Water Shipping

Case N.C. Nielsen has just delivered the world's largest reach stacker to Blue Water Shipping in Esbjerg. The gigantic reach stacker lifts a staggering 152 tonnes on the hook and was developed as part of close cooperation over a number of years between N.C. Nielsen and Blue Water Shipping. The reach stacker has now been commissioned at the harbour area in Esbjerg, where it flexibly moves wind turbine towers, nacelles and other heavy haulage.

For Blue Water Shipping, the world's largest reach stacker fulfils a long-held wish for flexible lifting at the heavy end of the scale. As an alternative to cranes, the converted Konecranes 4545 reach stacker is to help with the heavy lifting of wind turbine towers, nacelles, frames and constructions alongside the other heavy-duty machinery:

"Now we can handle the heaviest lifting and transport tasks ourselves by combining our machines for the different projects. For instance, we can lift objects of up to 250 tonnes with the world's largest reach stacker on one end and one of our 100-tonne reach stackers on the other – or operate with extremely heavy objects hanging on the hook. This sets us up to handle the transport projects of the future," says Søren Messmann, General Manager of the Port Services Division at Blue Water Shipping.

Strict requirements from the wind turbine industry

The world's largest reach stacker is the result of targeted development work between N.C. Nielsen and Blue Water Shipping. Strict requirements regarding the machine's performance had to be satisfied, and the technical specifications were defined in cooperation with Blue Water Shipping's customers in the wind turbine industry. The ever larger and heavier wind turbine parts, the bearing capacity of the soil at the storage site, new types of lifting equipment and the desire for the hook to reach all the way to the ground were among the technical challenges.

"We have had fantastic cooperation with N.C. Nielsen. We have carried out open, joint and constructive development work with plenty of ideas on the table. N.C. Nielsen has been good at grabbing the ideas and turning them into technical solutions. There have been no restrictions in principle, and that way of thinking moves the boundaries of what is possible," explains Messmann of Blue Water Shipping.

Big ideas result in big technology

N.C. Nielsen has in the past developed incredibly robust reach stackers for the wind turbine industry, with a lifting capacity of 110 tonnes. Back then, many shook their heads at the project and its big ideas. But N.C. Nielsen proved that it could breathe life into the ideas. The development of the world's biggest reach stacker is another step towards moving the boundaries of the heavy duty area:

"Nearly everything has been magnified compared to before. Together with our engineers and builders, we have worked intensely to find the formula for the world's largest reach stacker. We succeeded in an innovate cooperation with Blue Water Shipping, where we had to meet the technical specifications and the well-defined wishes regarding the machine's performance. It's about making complicated things simple," says technical director Per T. Nielsen of N.C. Nielsen.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR RANGE OF REACH STACKERS

Strict requirements from the wind turbine industry

Big ideas result in big technology

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