In 2024, the world's twenty largest ports logged more than 400 million container movements. These ports are the backbone of global trade and its supply chains, and a guarantor for prosperity in many countries. When loading and unloading container ships via container gantry cranes and when lifting, moving, and lowering containers via gantry and stacking cranes, it is crucial that everything works smoothly and with precision. SEW‑EURODRIVE supports fast-moving container handling with its high-performance drive solutions. And that is precisely what it does at Germany's gateway to the world – the Port of Hamburg.

Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB) is the Port of Hamburg's largest facility for handling these containers. Almost one in three of all containers is loaded here. A modernization program has been gradually expanding the capacity of CTB, raising it to its current level of 19 000 container movements per day and getting the facility fit for working with the biggest container ships. A crucial element in this fitness program is the drive solutions supplied by SEW‑EURODRIVE. 33 cranes are kitted out with gear units from SEW‑EURODRIVE, 650 of which are in use across the whole of Burchardkai. These include robust industrial gear units in the hoists as well as high-performance gearmotors in the trolley units and rail-mounted crane travel units.

The job of unloading container ships falls to the gigantic container gantry cranes, which are known as ship-to-shore, or STS, cranes. They are the interface between the ships and the terminal, and lift goods or containers off the ship and onto dry land, or vice-versa. Various types of crane are used to move containers and bulk goods, regardless of whether they are based at international or regional ports. The primary aim is maximum efficiency. The technology used must ensure that goods can flow continuously in order to minimize vessel turnaround time. That places huge demands on the drive technology. SEW‑EURODRIVE offers solutions for all the drives in container gantry cranes. That includes the primary hoist unit for lifting and lowering loads, the trolley travel unit for moving loads horizontally, the luffing gear for raising and lowering the jib as ships dock and cast off, and the horizontal drive that allows the entire STS crane to travel along its rails on the quay wall.

Motors, gear units, couplings, brakes, and shafts need to accommodate enormous forces, operate with precision, and provide a long service life. To meet these requirements without oversizing, SEW‑EURODRIVE designs its gear units to match customer specifications. For example, the horizontal drive on container gantry cranes needs to be accelerated and decelerated with extreme care so that the crane does not start to sway. Meanwhile, our brakemotors and flexible brake mounting solutions ensure a firm, secure hold during working operations.

Once the container gantry crane has set down its goods on dry land, automated transport and storage systems take over the next steps in their distribution. Storage and smooth, efficient transportation require careful planning and the coordinated integration of technology. SEW‑EURODRIVE supplies customized drive solutions for container gantry cranes, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), and automated stacking cranes (ASCs).

Automated transport and storage systems keep goods flowing smoothly and efficiently at CTB in the Port of Hamburg. Once unloaded from a ship, the containers are taken by automated transport vehicles to the storage areas. There, automated stacking cranes distribute the freight across the stacking zone. Containers continue their onward journey to their final destination via interfaces to trucks, trains, and feeder ships.

SEW‑EURODRIVE also keeps things moving here. The drive specialist's X.e series offers powerful and custom-configurable helical and bevel-helical gear units for all lifting and moving tasks. The comprehensive modular range, together with the large number of pre-defined accessories and options, delivers optimum flexibility for adapting to virtually any application.

To keep everything moving, you need to carry out regular checks and monitor operations at all times. "Predictive maintenance" is the magic word – continuously capturing and analyzing condition data for drive systems so you can plan future service and maintenance operations. To do that, HHLA uses the DriveRadar® IoT Suite from SEW‑EURODRIVE for condition monitoring. DriveRadar® utilizes sensors to keep watch over drives and automatically issues warnings when critical status changes occur. What's more, the system calculates the remaining service life of the bearings, gearing, and oil, and predicts impending damage in good time. This ensures that upcoming maintenance work and repairs can be planned more efficiently and carried out in a way that saves time.

HHLA is an innovative company and joined the condition monitoring project run by SEW‑EURODRIVE as a pilot customer back in 2019. That makes HHLA one of the first companies to have fitted out its process-relevant drives with DriveRadar®. SEW‑EURODRIVE also carries out regular examinations with an inspection scope. This involves inspecting the relevant gear unit for gearing or bearing defects. Another key factor is that DriveRadar® reliably monitors both SEW-EURODRIVE and third-party gear units, thereby creating transparency about the condition of existing systems. In addition, SEW-EURODRIVE can repair gear units from other manufacturers that are no longer available or replicate them according to a sample.