Indian engineering and manufacturing giant Larsen & Toubro Limited has added two Potain MD 1100 special application cranes at its new shipbuilding facility near Chennai. Manitowoc, a capital goods manufacturer, has built those cranes according to the L&T’s specifications. The cranes come with the capacity of 32 tonnes and 40 tonnes.
The Kattapalli Shipyard, located near Ennore Port, is the second facility for L&T’s shipbuilding division. It is designed to handle both new build work and ship repair. The two Potain MD 1100s are installed on the jetty and are used to handle loads for both ship repair and construction.
P. R. Prabhu, executive vice president for shipbuilding at L&T, said when specifying the requirements of the cranes at the yard, the company was impressed with Manitowoc’s ability to meet all of its needs.
“We had unique requirements for these cranes, in terms of capacity and size of the footprint,” Prabhu explained. “We were able to tell Manitowoc exactly what we were looking for, and our unique requirements were met with two unique cranes.” The Potain MD 1100 is a modular product and available in different capacity classes, depending on customer needs. The 40 tonnes capacity MD 1100 is the first crane of its size in India to be mounted on 12×10 m of chassis. It is also the first MD 1100 in India outfitted with a 70 m jib. Another unique point to the two MD 1100 cranes in India is that they are the first two erected in the country without climbing cages for the masts – working heights are fixed at 47.2 m and 46.2 m.
“The erection plan for these cranes was extremely well thought out,” said Prabhu. “In general, getting the crane ready was surprisingly easy, almost a kind of ‘plug and play’ installation.”
“Each step ran easily, and every component came with detailed instructions that made for a smooth and hassle-free erection,” said A Thangaraj Baskar, Sr. Manager of L&T shipbuilding.  “The dedication shown by the engineers on Manitowoc’s special application crane team made all the difference.”