In the context of seaports and container terminals, a crane is a heavy
lifting machine used to move containers and other cargo between ships, yard storage areas,
trucks and rail wagons. Cranes are core assets for quay operations, yard stacking and
intermodal transfer, directly influencing terminal productivity and vessel turnaround time.

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Main Crane Types in Terminals

• Ship-to-shore (STS) or quay crane. Large rail-mounted cranes installed at
  the quay edge. They lift containers on and off container vessels and sometimes handle
  break-bulk or project cargo on multi-purpose berths.
• Yard gantry crane (RTG/RMG). Rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) or rail-mounted
  gantry (RMG) cranes span container stacks in the yard. They handle horizontal moves between
  yard blocks and trucks or terminal tractors.
• Mobile harbour crane. Wheeled, flexible crane used on general cargo and
  multi-purpose terminals for containers, bulk and break-bulk where fixed quay cranes are
  not installed.

Role and Use

Port cranes work under the control of a terminal operating system (TOS), which assigns
work instructions, optimizes sequences and records each move for billing and
performance analysis. Safe and efficient crane operation is critical for:

• fast vessel loading and discharge at the berth,
• organized stacking and retrieval of containers in yard storage,
• smooth interface between ship, truck and rail flows.