In August 2022, Veracruz terminal operator Corporación Integral de Comercio Exterior S.A. de C.V. (Grupo CICE) commissioned a Konecranes Gottwald ESP.9 mobile harbor crane. Only a few months later, the company has put in a new order for a second unit with Konecranes. 

The operator has opted for the two units due to their long service life and greater project cargo handling capacity. Grupo CICE is dealing in a growing market of Mexico where throughput is increasing and vessels are getting bigger.

Grupo CICE expanding Konecranes fleet

Growing container handling activities have been pushing the evolution of the Veracruz terminal in the past decades. This is the main reason why Grupo CICE’s mobile harbor crane fleet has expanded steadily since 2001 as Leoncio Perez, CEO of Grupo CICE, explains: “We bought our first Konecranes Gottwald mobile harbor crane in 2001 and put our 10th into service as a Generation 6 ESP.9. All of the cranes have convinced us with their performance and reliability, and our first experiences with the Generation 6 crane have reinforced this positive impression.”

The ESP.9 provides more handling capacity and a longer service life. With its outreach being 7 m higher than their previously largest crane, it helps Grupo CICE serve the very large ships that call at their terminal in Veracruz.

“With the new crane we can handle containers up to the 20th row efficiently and safely. This represents a decisive competitive advantage for us, so we have already ordered another ESP.9 crane, which we foresee shall go into service by the end of the second quarter of 2023,” says Says Leoncio Perez.

The Konecranes Gottwald ESP.9 is a large crane model in the Generation 6 line that was introduced in 2021. It provides a working radius of up to 61 metres and a maximum lifting capacity of 125 tons.

The right fit

Grupo CICE has relied on Konecranes equipment for over two decades with great success. Speaking of it, Leoncio Perez says, “In addition to the products, service and consultancy are very convincing at Konecranes as well. Fast-growing terminals like ours require individual and flexible solutions, and Konecranes offers us this in every respect. The new crane can handle containers, general cargo and project cargo. In addition to our mobile harbor cranes, we also operate several lift trucks as well as two RTGs from Konecranes, and we recently ordered three more lift trucks and one RTG to increase our handling capacity from the quayside to the yard. In general, we have always found the right solution for our challenges together with Konecranes. With our new Generation 6 crane, the range of solutions at our disposal become even smarter, more powerful, and more eco-efficient.”