Qube, the giant Australian logistics supplier with services and facilities in 28 Australian ports, have ordered a LHM 550 for its operations in Whyalla with SIMEC. This will be the ninth mobile harbour crane Qube have ordered from Liebherr in the last five years, with an LHM 420 also currently on its way to Bell Bay in Tasmania.  

The new machine type LHM 550 has a maximum lifting capacity of up to144 tonnes and a maximum radius of 54 metres. Furthermore, the new crane comes with a SMAG 4-rope grab and the SmartGrip® bulk handling option, allowing materials with a variety of densities to be handled with the same grab. The SmartGrip® technology is capable of optimising the filling rate of the grab in a self-learning manner. In this way, SmartGrip® learns after just five lifting cycles how to optimise capacity utilisation of the grab even for less experienced crane operators. It prevents overloads, increases the material handling rate and, at the same time, alleviates crane operator stress. 

“This saves Qube a lot of hassle with grab changes, but also saves them money otherwise spent buying multiple grabs,” comments Gordon Clark, General Manager of Liebherr Australia.  
“It’s another exiting investment and a demonstration of Qube’s commitment to SIMEC and the port of Whyalla. This investment will assist SIMEC with its continued development of the Whyalla Port towards becoming a world-scale, multi-user facility” said Todd Emmert, Director of Qube in WA. “Liebherr has worked very hard to shorten our delivery to suit our client’s needs.”  

Qube also have 100% ownership of AAT and 50% ownership of NSS Townsville, between them accounting for four more Liebherr machines.