At the Przemysłowe Quay of the Port of Gdańsk, a new crane has recently been put into operation. The colossal Mantsinen 160, owned by Polcopper, stands as the largest machine of its kind produced by the manufacturer in Poland.

The conspicuous red Mantsinen ER 160 catches the eye from afar, even against the backdrop of the 180-meter vessel Jaunty Jenny, which arrived from Denmark to transport scrap metal from Gdańsk to Turkey. The vessel berthed at the Przemysłowe Quay, where the new crane, accompanied by its older, smaller sibling and another machine, is working on its loading.

"The Mantsinen 160 is the first model of its kind sold to the Polish market by the Finnish manufacturer. It currently stands as the largest hydraulic handling machine in Poland," says Tomasz Zając, director of the Polcopper Gdańsk branch. "With an arm reach of 32.5 meters, it allows us to fully utilize the capabilities of the quay where we operate, accommodating ships with widths of up to 29 meters. At its weakest point, the machine boasts an almost 13-ton lifting capacity, offering significant capabilities and achieving high throughput rates."

Acquiring the new crane was a challenging investment.

"This is the manufacturer's first custom-made model, so the entire process, from preparing for the purchase to its arrival, took almost two years," explains Tomasz Zając. He recounts that preparing the documentation and assessing the technical capabilities of the quay, necessary to determine if the machine could even be placed there due to its weight (approximately 220 tons), took six months. "Then came the ordering phase. The machine's production period was one and a half years. Its arrival and assembly alone took over a month," Zając adds.

The Mantsinen 160 arrived in Gdańsk in parts, transported in 11 shipments. The order fulfillment, delivery, and assembly were handled by the Pakiet company. The crane completed its first loading operation at the beginning of February. Thanks to Polcopper's possession of other machines from the same manufacturer, there was no need for extensive training of employees in the operation of the new acquisition.

To ensure the safe operation of the new crane at the Przemysłowe Quay in Gdańsk, specially widened tracks were designed to properly distribute its weight. The Mantsinen 160 is powered by electricity, via two cables, ensuring zero-emission operation. Thanks to the new crane, Polcopper is capable of handling the transshipment of various goods. The company dispatches approximately 30,000 tons of scrap metal from the Port of Gdańsk monthly, but the machine will also be utilized for other commodities. The company also handles the transshipment of aggregates, timber in beams, bulk materials, zinc ingots, as well as non-standard cargoes, such as 12-meter-long pipes with a diameter of 2 meters, which are shipped from the manufacturer in Poland to clients worldwide. Additionally, since Russia's aggression against Ukraine a year and a half ago, Polcopper has transshipped 1.3 million tons of coal.