Rickmers ships 3 giant railway cranes from Leipzig to Dalian

THREE giant railway cranes being shipped from Leipzig to Xingang near Dalian, each standing 19.5 metres high and weighing 167 tonnes and lifting capacity of 160 tonnes, and are expected to arrive at their destination to work in combination to form a block train.

The customer is China is the Chinese Ministry of Railways, which will utilise them in various locations.


The consignment is aboard the Rickmers Jakarta, one of nine identical ships that operate on eastbound around-the-world Pearl String service linking the world`s major industrial centres, said a company statement.


The service offers fortnightly sailings from Hamburg, Antwerp and Genoa to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China. From there, the ships sail via Japan and South Korea to North America. In New Orleans, Houston and Philadelphia, they load cargo for both Europe and Asia.


Kuehne + Nagel in Markranstadt and Hamburg participated in the forwarding arrangements involved in the transport from Kirow`s plant in Leipzig, Germany, via Hamburg to China.


This is part of a larger project that in total will have 16 railway cranes shipped to China between December 2009 and November 2010.


Previously Rickmers-Linie has carried Kirow railway cranes from Hamburg to China between 2006 and 2008. Some of these cranes are being used in Tibet, under extreme conditions such as temperatures of minus 40 degrees Celsius and altitudes of around 5,000 metres.