March 25, 2014

Motherwell Bridge Ltd is to construct and commission 16 cranes for container terminals in West Africa.

These projects were announced during a visit to Motherwell Bridge’s Hal Far premises by the Minister for the Economy, Investment and Small Business, Dr Chris Cardona, this afternoon.

Motherwell Bridge Ltd will deliver 12 latest generation rubber-­tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) to a container terminal in Togo, and four RTGs to a container terminal in Cameroon. It will be the first time Motherwell Bridge has employed its specialist teams to West Africa.Mechanical and electrical engineers will begin to work on the project towards the end of May. The entire project will be completed in six months.

“While in recent years Malta has focused considerable resources on growing its service sectors, you prove here in Hal Far that manufacturing continues to make a major contribution to the economy and to internationalising the Maltese skills set,” Dr Cardona said.

“What we see here is that engineering and all services related to manufacturing remain an important sector of the Maltese economy.The expertise built over two decades lives on today at Motherwell Bridge.
You have inested in technology,innovation, and training, you have enhanced your skills base and you have kept your order book healthy. This is a success story and we should all celebrate that.” The West Africa project comes just weeks after Motherwell Bridge completed the construction and commissioning of 12 automatic stacking cranes in Abu Dhabi at a key container terminal in the region. The cranes were
delivered ahead of schedule in record time.

“This latest contract presents important prospects for Motherwell Bridge,” Motherwell Bridge chairman Steve Tarr said.

“It takes us to a new market with very distinct operational environments.Electrical and mechanical maintenance and management are core capabilities at Motherwell Bridge. This project will be an opportunity for Motherwell Bridge to showcase Maltese engineering expertise that could also be of interest to other sectors in the region, particularly oil and gas. We are proud to be flying the flag for Malta in this part of the world.”

Since 2005,Motherwell Bridge has built and delivered more than 150 container terminal cranes, including
50 rubber-­tyred gantry cranes at terminals in Malta, 51 rubber-­tyred gantry cranes at ports in Malaga, Valencia and Castellon in Spain, 36 automatic stacking cranes in Barcelona, two rubber­‐tyred gantry cranes in Oman, and 12 automatic stacking cranes in Abu Dhabi.