Tratos wins cable-supply contract at Khalifa Port

An example of a reeling cable from Tratos.

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Cable manufacturer and supplier Tratos has won a contract from Konecranes to supply 36 crane cable lengths. The cranes have been purchased by Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) for an automated container yard system at Khalifa Port.

Khalifa Port is being built over five phases, with an initial capacity of two million TEU (containers) and eight million tons of general cargo.

It will take over traffic from the Mina Zayed Port, due to close in 2012, as well as take on the new cargo generated by the Khalifa Industrial Zone, set to become one of the world’s largest industrial areas.

To handle the largest ships at sea and such a vast quantity of cargo, Khalifa Port features the latest technology, including Konecranes’ automated stacking cranes (ASC) and a container terminal operating system.

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The ASCs are being used with Tratosflex and Tratosgreen medium-voltage, rubber-insulated and sheathed drum reeling cables.

These cables are ideal for the ASCs as specified for Khalifa Port, as they have been designed to combat the common problem of twisting that affects cables reeling at high speed.

Twisting makes cable cores elongate unevenly which, in turn, leads to conductors on the outer layer of a strand face a greater risk of being broken. A broken cable reeling at high speed is dangerous, and can cause extensive and costly damage to equipment.

Tratosflex is different from other reeling cables in that Tratos engineers have modified the internal cable design, tightening the structure against the internal relative movement to accommodate high-speed applications.

Tratosflex and Tratosgreen cables are suited for use on one-way reels, with operation speeds of 200-300m/min, two-way reels with operation speeds of 200m/min, end rollers with an operation speed of 180m/min and central cable rollers with an operation speed of 60m/min.

They operate in temperatures ranging from -30°C to +80°C. Tratosgreen has the added benefit of reduced halogens and reduced toxicity.

The new Konecranes ASCs, the company’s first delivery in the Middle East, featuring Tratos cable are due for installation in the summer of 2012.