The Italian Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), headquartered in Switzerland, has shipped two heavy lift spreader bars from the Port of Rotterdam to Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria, a Spanish island off the coast of Northwestern Africa.

The heavy lift spreader bars measured 25 metres, and weighed up to 59 tons, exceeding the capabilities of regular cranes. Whereas this was not an issue during the loading process in the Port of Rotterdam, where the appropriate high-capacity gantry cranes were available, it was initially not technically possible to unload them in Las Palmas.

To work around this obstacle, MSC’s project cargo team used a third-party 500-ton mobile crane at the Las Palmas Terminal, to unload the spreader bars. By doing this they were able to achieve the necessary outreach of over 20 metres for these 25-metre-long units. The cargo was then discharged directly onto the receiver’s truck.