Griepe operates the largest barge handler reachstacker in Europe

The 45-employee company now has what is probably the largest reachstacker in barge handling - the Kalmar DRG450-92S5HCXS with a wheelbase of 9,250 mm and a weight of almost 110 tonnes - a device for loading/unloading barge containers, up to the third row with 45 tons weight without and up to the fourth row with 41 tons weight with support.

"We have been working with Kalmar for 20 years...so, together with Kalmar, the concept for this large machine was born," says Gerd Griepe, Managing Director.

The challenge

Griepe operates a terminal in Bremen with 86.000m² for storage, cleaning and loading of sea containers. To increase their capacity and efficiency, Griepe requested an efficient solution for loading and unloading containers from a barge without the time consuming job of turning the vessel. To succeed in the job, they needed a solution that is able to handle containers weighing up to 30 tonnes directly to and from the fourth row of the barge.

The solution

It took nine months of design, the Kalmar Reachstacker as a basis and the experience from the existing equipment at Griepe to come up with the solution: one of the largest reachstackers in barge handling.

The giant machine has a range of 11,200 mm and is able to lift containers up to 45 tonnes in the third row without support jacks and up to 30 tonnes in the fourth row. To be able to serve the lowest level of the barge (2,600 mm below 0), Kalmar constructed a boom extension and a hinged over-height frame, which is firmly integrated into the spreader.

The machine lifts the containers from the barge and places them on the quay, where a smaller standard reachstacker Kalmar DRF450 65S5L takes over the container and loads it onto trucks or takes it to storage.

The result

Kalmar provided a superclass barge handler that is able to manage more moves per hour than any other handling system on the market. Delivering up to 30 moves per hour, the Kalmar DRG450-92S5HCXS reachstacker with 9.250 mm wheelbase and 107 tons weight is more flexible and efficient than a mobile harbor crane or a container bridge. With Kalmar’s solution, Griepe is now ready to serve its customers more efficiently and faster than ever before.