Setting out to create a new Mediterranean shipping hub at Taranto Port, Yilport Holding in December chose Konecranes to refurbish 23 cranes.
The Turkish company won a 49-year concession from Italian authorities in 2019 to operate Taranto, located in the southeastern part of the country, and plans to use the port’s central location to create a Mediterranean hub.
Konecranes said its contract includes the recommissioning of seven ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and 16 rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes that are currently inactive. Konecranes will begin the project in January 2020, aiming to first move the seven STS cranes 100 meters down the quay so they can start operations. Several of the RMG cranes will also be recommissioned in the first half of 2020, and the remaining RMGs will be brought online by the end of 2020.
Robert Yildirim, owner of Yilport Holding, said the port will return to full operations by the end of 2020, with more reinvestment plans to follow.