After completing the assembly and passing the necessary tests and, as well as the technical acceptance procedure, the STS crane was officially put into operation at DB Port Szczecin on December 1. This is to ensure increased transhipment efficiency of increasingly larger ships arriving at the Szczecin port.

Elements of the STS (ship to shore) crane were delivered on July 1 this year from Ireland to Poland. They were unloaded at the Finskie Quay, where the finished equipment will work together with two, slightly smaller cranes. The first thing that arrived in the country was the 42-meter main beam of the crane, the operator's cabin, machine legs and a boom that will be able to reach up to 48 meters from the quay. Then the key electronic equipment arrived and only then could the machine be completed. Equipping it with CCTV cameras allows the machine operator to constantly observe the surroundings on the screen, making work easier and safer.

The equipment is capable of lifting up to 70 tons on a hook or two 20-foot containers with a total weight of 65 tons, enabling the handling of ships with 16 rows of containers or more. When folded, its height is 70 meters and its own weight is 1,200 tons.

The installation of the new crane lasted until October, along with intensive training of the operators. After passing the necessary tests and the technical acceptance procedure, the first reloading of a container ship took place on October 29. On December 1, it officially becomes the third acquisition of this type, which will strengthen the transshipment capacity of DB Port Szczecin.

The increase in transshipment at the Port of Szczecin is associated with the deepening of the waterway, which allowed it to serve ships with a larger tonnage than before. In the area of the Dębicki Canal, where the container terminal is located, the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority is carrying out works aimed at adapting the infrastructure in connection with that earlier investment. Enterprises leasing quays are taking advantage of this fact and are striving to cope with the new situation. The DB Port Szczecin investment is worth PLN 40 million, half of which is the result of EU funding received from the Cohesion Fund under the Infrastructure and Environment operational program.