Enerpac E-mover streamlines container spreader maintenance

Major global port and container terminal operator, APM Terminals, is using an Enerpac EMV-Series (E-mover) skate for container handling spreader maintenance at its terminal in Valencia, Spain. The wireless operated skate allows APM Terminals to streamline spreader maintenance as well as providing an improved work environment for asset maintenance technicians.

Attached to a port crane, the container handling spreader is a machine designed to lift shipping containers weighing up to 45 tonnes. In the busy APM Terminals Valencia, operating 24/7 and handling up to 1.4 million TEUs containers each year, efficient maintenance is essential.

Until now, the spreader was maintained outside the terminal’s workshop as there was no easy way of moving the 13t, 6m long and 2.5m wide tool into the building. Moreover, this meant that only one spreader could be maintained at a time. By using a combination of Enerpac E-mover, equipped with a 50t capacity hydraulic cylinder, and MLS-Series load skates, each container handling spreader is easily lifted and transported into the workshop. In addition to enabling a safer and more pleasant working environment for maintenance technicians, the manoeuvrability of E-mover allows a second spreader to be positioned alongside the first, enabling simultaneous maintenance of both machines.

“The Enerpac E-mover has made a big difference to our container spreader maintenance operations,” says Joan Carbó, equipment project engineer at APM Terminals Valencia. “The ease of deploying and using the E-mover makes maintenance safer and quicker, lifting our safety standards, as well as allowing us to fully optimise the space available in the workshop.”

Enerpac EMLS/EMV Series battery-powered machine skates are designed for moving heavy machinery in confined spaces. They allow a single operator to safely and remotely position loads of up to 55t. E-movers feature dual-drive motors and a 360deg tilt swivel saddle for ease of manoeuvrability in small areas and around tight corners. Precise control is enabled with the wireless remote-control including two joysticks to advance and steer the load, and variable speed control for changing conditions.