Potain lifts at Dunkirk

Manitowoc has installed a new Potain MD 1100 special application tower crane at the Port Autonome De Dunkerque facility in Dunkirk, northern France. The crane is on site to lift heavy components as part of the facility's ongoing ship repair work.

Manitowoc engineers designed the crane around the exact specifications of the shipyard that repairs around 250 ships a year, each taking around 100 hours to complete.

The MD 1100 belongs to the Port Autonome De Dunkerque, a government-owned entity. It is used by private company ARNO, a subcontractor employed to do all ship repair work at the yard.

Design specifications for the shipyard have more in common with US shipyards than those in Europe. The Dunkirk facility was built after the Second World War with assistance from the US Marshall Plan. As a result, Manitowoc needed to adjust the design. The most significant change was construction of a 10.7 x 10.7 m traveling portal. This portal allows the crane to travel on the 500 m dockside track.

Gerard Vezant, sales director for special application cranes at Manitowoc, said the design changes on this MD 1100 were more than are typically required. "Each special application crane we build is adjusted to specific requirements, but on this crane we made more changes than ever before. Our ability to deliver to the client's needs within a relatively short timeframe helped us win this contract. Didier Delorme, our business manager, was in constant communication with the people in Dunkirk making sure every commitment was met. And at our design office, Jean Claude Gateau oversaw all technical changes."