16 Cranes – Design, Practice, and Maintenance

Fig. 1.3.13 Shuttle carrier

1.4 Capacities, number of cycles, cycle-time

Container quay cranes
In the container business, the containers are referred to as TEUs. A
TEU is a 20 ft equivalent unit. A 20 ft container is one TEU, and a
40 ft container is two TEUs. In converting the number of TEUs to the
number of ‘moves’ it can be assumed that a ratio of 1 :1 of 20 ft to
40 ft containers does not exist today. Therefore, a TEU factor of 1,5 is
produced. As the proportion of 40 ft containers seems to be increasing,
the TEU factor will rise, and in the near future it will be reasonable to
assume a TEU factor of 1,6.
 Introduction 17

In container handling operations managers often say that they expect

and achieve a high number of ‘cycles’ or ‘moves’ per hour. Theoretically
the time a duty cycle takes can be calculated, but factors that can dis-
turb or affect efficiency must also be taken into account. Many oper-
ators state that they would like to calculate using a capacity of 100–
125 containers per hour per ship using a maximum of three to four
container quay cranes, working together loading or unloading one ship.

Example
– Container vessel 4000 TEU
– Number of containers with a TEU 4000ë1,5 G2666 cont.
factor of 1,5
– Number of containers to be unloaded 2666 · 0,6G1600 cont.
in the particular harbourA60%
– Assumed number of containers which G1200 cont.
have to be loaded
– Total number of containers which G2800 cont.
have to be handled
– Total of the time which the vessel is 24 hours
to be allowed to stay moored
– Needed as average hour capacity 2800ë24 G117 cont.兾hr
What are the disturbances and how great is their impact?
The following disturbances must be considered.

Average operation time over a number of vessels:

(Normal, real operation time, without disturbances G100%)
– Time for lashing兾unlashing –
– Time to unlock兾lock semi-automatic container cones –
– Dealing with hatch covers –
– Hoisting兾lowering the boom –
– Breakdown of the crane –
– Break for meals兾refreshments –
18 Cranes – Design, Practice, and Maintenance

– Shift changes –
– Waiting for transportation ashore –
– Loss of time due to jammed twistlocks –
– Delays due to the vessel –
– Waiting time to start work –
– Time to examine control seals, any damage, and –
the CSC plate

Total %

It is vital to be aware that, under certain circumstances, the total of

these disruptions can be up to 30–40 percent of the potential operation
time. It is often assumed that capacity increases when the movements
are automated or semi-automated, but the level of improvement in
capacity varies from harbour to harbour and from operative to opera-
tive. The capacity of a container quay crane will be greatest when a
skilled crane driver is being used. However, people do tire but auto-
mation never becomes fatigued in the same way. Therein lies the
difference!
In the USA the following productivity measures have been developed
by, among others, the National Ports and Waterways Institute. The
data here are by kind permission of Dr A. Ashar.
Port time GPort access timeCTerminal preparation time
CTerminal handling time
Terminal handling time GContainer moves兾net berth productivity
Net berth productivity GNet gang productivity
BAverage number of gangs

Container moves
While serving a ship a gang may perform a series of direct and indirect
activities. The activities are usually qualified by ‘moves’, the four most com-
mon types of which are:
(a) Load兾unload – the transfer of domestic (import and export) and
transhipment boxes between ship and yard;
(b) Re-handle – the transfer of transhipment boxes between ship and
dock for a later transfer from the dock to the same ship;
 Introduction 19

(c) Shifting on-board – the transfer of boxes between bays (cells) without
staging them on dock;
(d) Hatch opening兾closing – the transfer of hatchcovers between the ship
and the dock.

Definitions of times, activities, and quantities

Ship and gang times
The services that a ship receives at a port begin when the ship arrives at
the entry buoy and ends when the ship passes the buoy on its way out,
after finishing loading兾unloading its cargo. The actual handling of cargo is
performed by one or more gangs, each using a shore-based or ship-based
crane. The times and the activities are generally divided into those related
to the ship itself, and those related to the gangs or cranes working the
ship. The ship handling process involves many activities and times. For
simplification, the times are incorporated into six functional categories; three
related to ships and three to gangs.
Ship times include:
(a) Port time – the buoy-to-buoy time; the total time that the ship spends
at a port, including waiting for a berth, documents, pilot, tugs, delays
due to bad weather, etc.
(b) Gross berth time – the first-to-last line time, the total time that a ship
is at berth, including ship preparations, waiting for documents, gangs,
beginning of shift, change of shifts, availability of cargo, etc. and the
major delays during work due to equipment breakdowns, bad weather,
etc.
(c) Net berth time – the first unlash-to-last lash-time, or the working time
of a ship at berth, during which gangs load兾unload the containers and
perform related activities such as lashing兾unlashing, placing兾remov-
ing cones, opening兾closing hatchcovers, etc. The net berth time
includes minor during-work interruptions due to unavailability of cargo,
equipment breakdowns, etc.
Gang (crane) times include:
(a) Gross gang time – the time that a gang is available (assigned) to work
a ship and for which the gang is paid, including waiting times before
and after work (stand-by) and interruptions during work.
(b) Net gang time – the time that a gang is actually working, including
handling boxes and performing other, indirect activities, along with
during-work minor interruptions.
(c) Net兾net gang time – the same as net gang time, but only including
the time spent handling containers.
20 Cranes – Design, Practice, and Maintenance

Ship and gang productivity

Ship productivity includes three measures:
(a) Port accessibility – the difference between port time and gross berth
time. This measure reflects:
– the geographical situation of a port, mainly the distance and navi-
gation conditions on the access channel;
– availability of pilots and tugs;
– availability of governmental agencies responsible for clearing ships,
crews, and cargo; and
– availability of berthage.
(b) Gross berth productivity – ‘moves’ (boxes) transferred between the
ship and the dock兾yard, divided by ship’s gross berth time – the
difference between the first and the last line. This measure reflects
the shift structure and labour situation.
(c) Net berth productivity – the same as gross berth productivity, but using
net berth time. This measure reflects the number of gangs (cranes)
assigned to the ship and the net gang productivity (see below).

Gang productivity also includes three measures:

(a) Gross gang productivity – ‘moves’ divided by gross gang time. This
measure reflects labour contract, especially regarding idle ‘stand-by’
times at the beginning, during, and end of shifts ‘early finish’.
(b) Net gang productivity – the same as gross gang productivity, but using
net gang time. This measure reflects necessary, although non-
productive, that is not producing ‘moves’, activities such as handling
hatch covers, shifting boxes, on-board (cell-to-cell ) ‘moves’, inserting兾
removing cones, etc.
(c) Net兾net gang productivity – the same as above but using the net兾net
gang time. This measure, also called ‘pick rate’, reflects the technical
capability of facilities and equipment, along with the proficiency of the
labour in operating them and the competence of terminal management
in planning and controlling them.
Since all times are usually measured in hours, the productivity measures are
all expressed in moves兾hours.

Grab unloaders
The definition of a grab unloader is a ship-to-shore unloader with a
built in hopper. The maximum capacity of these unloaders can be from
1500 tons per hour up to 6000 tons per hour. Unlike a continuously
 Introduction 21

Fig. 1.4.1 Break-down of ship and gang times (by kind permission of Dr A.
Ashar)

running conveyor whose capacity can be easily defined, the definition

of the unloading capacity of the intermittently working grab-unloader
is less simple.
Different terms are used:
(a) maximum capacity;
(b) free digging capacity; and
(c) average capacity.
Maximum capacity
This is the maximum capacity that can be reached. It depends upon the
shortest cycle time, the maximum load of the grab, the skill of the
operator, and the shape of the hatch of the ship which is to be unloaded.
Operator skill and hatch configuration, are factors which equally affect
the free digging and average capacity. In fact a crane driver can main-
tain this capacity for only a short period of time. The rating of the hoist
motors and trolley travelling motors must be designed so that working
at maximum capacity does not lead to overloading or overheating that
would lead to further loss of potential maximum capacity.
Free-digging capacity
This is the capacity that can be maintained during a certain time, under
certain conditions, with a skilled crane driver and takes into account