Floating cranes made by Gottwald are the ideal choice for cargo handling on waterways with few quays or none at all or if capacities have been exhausted:

• based on proven Gottwald Mobile Harbour Crane technology
• for cargo handling independent of quay availability
• designed for ship-to-ship or ship-to-quay handling.

One Single Idea – Many Fields of Application

Gottwald floating cranes are mobile and can be used: 

• in rivers (mid-stream transhipment)
• in ports
• in protected waters
• in coastal waters 
• on the open sea.

Proven Mobile Harbour Crane Technology on the Water

Gottwald Floating Cranes combine Mobile Harbour Crane technology with a barge and can be designed as: 

• Harbour Pontoon Cranes: the crane is on a pedestal mounted on an individually designed barge.
• Portal Harbour Cranes mounted on a barge: with this special type of crane, the barges have rails upon which the HSK can be travelled thanks to its rail-mounted portal. This enables the crane to service several holds without warping the barge.

The numerous variants are developed to meet the requirements of the specific fields of application.

Above the slew ring, they have the same components as Gottwald Mobile Harbour Cranes. As a result, this crane type provides all the benefits of the proven Mobile Harbour Cranes, such as:

• diesel-electric or fully electric drives for optimised efficiency 
• designed to handle all forms of cargo (containers, bulk, general and project cargoes)
• rapid change of lifting gear.

Floating cranes are available in all variants including 4-rope grab variants for professional bulk handling. 

Individual Barge Constructions

For the best possible solutions with floating cranes, Gottwald combines its own crane know-how with the know-how of third-party professional barge manufacturers. The customer can choose to order a new barge or to convert an existing one. If required, Gottwald works as a general contractor. The size and exact design of the barge can be adapted to suit the customer's preferences.

The Benefits of the Barge

• Thanks to its independence of landside cargo handling systems, its low specific investment costs and its short delivery lead times, the floating crane is the ideal way to avoid long approval procedures and minimise construction times and investment in site purchase and quay construction. 
• Ports can service more and larger ocean-going vessels. Direct transhipment between ocean-going vessels and barges makes quays superfluous. 
• When additional capacity is required, floating cranes can supplement land-based handling capacities.