Global lifting solutions provider Konecranes has rehabilitated two 500 t Chinese portal cranes for the Angolan National Oil Company’s (Sonangol’s) Integrated Logistic Services’ (Sonils’) oil service centre, says Konecranes Southern Africa technical and training manager for sub-Saharan Africa Marius Naudé.

“The total cost of the rehabilitation was more than R2-million, which included a spare parts package to keep the cranes in good working order,” he says, adding that the duration of the project, including an initial site inspection, was about three months.

Both cranes were operational at the end of March, on the same day that rehabilitation was completed, says Naudé, adding that Konecranes will further offer its full support to keep these cranes in the best condition for as long as possible. The cranes can operate in tandem to lift a total load of 1 000 t.

Konecranes was approached in April to assist Sonils, located in the Port of Luanda, Angola, with the rehabilitation.

“While the cranes were initially obtained from China in 2007, information and software were missing. However, Konecranes pulled out all the stops to get the cranes back to working order,” says Naudé.

In addition to repairing the hoisting and travelling inverters, the company also upgraded the firmware and software on the programmable logic controller.

Konecranes has worked closely with Sonils since they initially created the centre in 1993 to develop the Luanda logistics base, with more than 140 Konecranes overhead cranes having been delivered to the Luanda logistics base thus far.

Sonils quickly transformed into an ambitious project, with the development of the fully fledged oil service centre, comprising industrial and logistics facilities and services to support the ever-increasing offshore developments of the Kwanza basin.

While the Sonils crane team carries out servicing and maintenance on all the cranes at the base, Konecranes assists during the installation and commissioning of new cranes.

“Sonils is a significantly prestigious project to be working on”, stresses Konecranes Southern Africa service, sales and marketing director John MacDonald.

CLX Performance
Konecranes has noted a 234% year-on-year sales increase to date this year of its CLX chain hoists in Southern Africa, says Konecranes workstation lifting systems/light lifting equipment expert Celeste Viljoen.

“Having been introduced to the market in November, CLX chain hoists have been applied in workshop maintenance and pump-lifting procedures, as well as in moulding and battery workshops. They have also made inroads into the Port Elizabeth automotive industry this year, “ she says.

She adds that positive customer feedback highlights the reliability and efficiency of the chain hoist.

Engineering News reported in January that the chain hoist could manage about 300 starts an hour, while standard temperature monitoring prevents the motor from overheating, with additional standard ventilation leading to improved hoist performance.

The CLX chain hoist is also equipped with a new self-adjusting brake, which has been designed for various operations. The brake and the clutch are installed on the same axle, which ensures that the load will not drop or microslip, even if the clutch fails, Engineering News reported.

Moreover, Konecranes industrial crane sales manager Leon Strydom points out that, while companies are facing tough economic conditions, 90% of all orders for the CXT range of cranes in the past three months has been allocated for the export market into Africa.

Several cranes will be supplied to Sonils for the oil and gas industry in Angola, including a 75 t double girder (DG) crane with a 21 m span and 13 jib cranes, valued at R5.5-million; two 17.5 t DG cranes with an 18 m span, valued at R1.6-million; and a 5 t DG crane with an 11 m span, valued at R1-million.

Another crane, a 30 t unit with a 7.5 m span valued at R1.2-million, will be delivered to a platinum mine, in Zimbabwe, in 12 weeks.

Strydom says more clients require a turnkey solution and extra services, such as the RailQ gantry rail survey to repair their rails instead of replacing all the infrastructure.

“As clients become more aware of new technologies, they see the value of it and are willing to invest in it to make their operations safer, more productive and more reliable, as well as lower total cost of ownership,” he says.

Therefore, Konecranes believes that monitoring crane use has become increasingly popular, as the owner has better control and visibility of all aspects of the crane, ranging from preventative maintenance, emergencies, overheating, crane abuse or mistreatment. The user can also take the necessary steps or precautions to rectify these issues using either maintenance or training.