New stacker operates as crane and container lifting device

Counteracting increased port
charges is the motivation
behind the introduction by
Celtic Freight of a new stacker
at its Durban premises.
Better equipment allows
the company to increase its
operational efficiency, said
Celtic managing director Adrian
Friend.
Until recently container
handling was reliant on only
a hammar side loader at the
Durban branch, but with the
introduction of the new
45-ton Kalmar reach stacker,
operations have been given a
significant boost.
“We had been operating well
enough with the side loader
but obviously it did not give us
the capacity we now have with
the reach stacker,” said Jannie
Steyn, Celtic’s yard manager in
Durban.
Describing the stacker as a
“beast of a machine”, he said
they would now be able to
offload trucks in a matter of
ten minutes as opposed to up to
30 minutes or longer with the
previous equipment.
“We are also able to store far
more containers both empty
and full with the square metres
available than with the single
stacking side shifter,” said
Steyn. “Celtic Durban has
always been able to provide
project cargo with unpacking
and re-packing facilities, but
with the new stacker there is no
need to hire cranes for heavy
lifting from flat racks. The
stacker is a versatile solution as
it operates as a crane as well as
a container lifting device.”
According to Friend
there was no choice but to
bring in better equipment
in Durban despite a
decrease in the volumes of
cargo destined for Zambia,
the company’s main
market.
“Cargo coming in
through the Durban port
for Zambia has dropped
significantly due to the
ridiculous port charges,”
he told FTW. “We had
no choice but to put
better equipment into this
operation. We have found
that we can counteract the
high port charges to a great
extent by using the stacker as
it allows us to reduce our per
truck costs, our unpacking of
container costs as well as the
handling costs.”
With much of the cargo
coming in via Durban being
of a specialised nature,
like project cargo, the new
stacker ensures the company
has increased its capacity to
handle specialised cargo.