Turkish stevedoring company uses a Sennebogen 880 EQ material handler

Stevedoring company Ahtapot Denizcilik of Turkey handles a variety of scrap for the proprietors of the port of Mersin using a Sennebogen electric drive material handler. Rehandling capacity is greater than before, and the work climate is continuously improving, the company says.

Zübeyde Pamuk controls the joysticks in the Mastercab, seated 14 meters above the trucks that continuously deliver bauxite and dump it into containers. She expertly grabs the material and loads it into the 60,000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) hull of the Julia Oldendorff. In less than a minute, she has finished and signals to the next driver that she needs material faster.

The Sennebogen 880 EQ offers an operating range of 35 meters and the equipment kinematics to transport scrap to ships such as the Julia Oldendorff, Sennebogen says. Depending on the grapple attachments, Pamuk and her colleagues can handle bauxite, coal, plaster, grain, wood chips or cement clinker.

The 250-metric-ton machine allows a handling capacity of 1,500 metric tons per hour, reports Erkan Dogan, managing director of Ahtapot.

Pamuk says that in the past, when working with port cranes using rope grapples in the past, she could achieve only half the handling quantity. Conversely, Pamuk says the hydraulic 880 EQ, is both fast and quiet, thanks to the electric drive. The machine also features Sennebogen’s Powerpack on the undercarriage, providing power to take the machine in for servicing.

“We were promised that our operating costs would be cut virtually in half and handling capacity considerably increased. And we got both. The machine needs very little maintenance and servicing, thanks to the electric drive. Looking back, today we can say that it was the right decision. The material handler is very reliable and economical,” explains Dogan.

“We also receive first-rate support from Forsen, the Sennebogen sales and service partner in Istanbul, whose employees stand behind the machine, its design and our company. That is the best guarantee of good service,” he adds.