Meriaura's heavy-load open deck carrier Meri transported the mobile harbour crane from Liebherr Rostock to Forth Ports Group's Port of Tilbury (London).

The fully assembled machinery was unloaded with the help of another piece of Liebherr's heavy-duty gear, the LH 150 Port Litronic material handler.

Tilbury's new LHM 550, offering an outreach of 54 metres and a 144-tonne configured lifting capacity, will be used for, among others, handling granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) from the expected to start operating in 2026 Aggregate Industries' new cement grinding manufacturing facility and import terminal in the English seaport.

Due to the aggressive nature of GBFS, an over-pressure system has been fitted to force ventilate the crane's slewing platform to prevent product ingress into the machine rooms. Additionally, the LHM 550 has been covered in the same paint finish as Liebherr's offshore and ship cranes for corrosion control that goes beyond most port standards.

The mobile harbour crane also features the LieGEN energy recovery system, can run on hydrotreated vegetable oil, and is ready to draw power from an electrical power supply.

Photo: Forth Ports Group