A remote-controlled bulk cargo grab, designed and built by Tauranga's Page Macrae Engineering, has won a major Australian award.
The company's bulk grab division, PM Grabs, was last week named the winner in the tightly contested Innovative Technology category at the annual Australian Bulk Handling Awards, held in Brisbane.
Page Macrae wascompeting against a wide range of specialist bulk cargo-handling equipment. The leading Tauranga engineering firm entered its latest diesel-hydraulic grabs, which are operated by a crane operator using remote control.
The PM grabs are designed for discharging large volumes of bulk material from ship's holds. Capable of carrying up to 20 tonnes of material at a time, their ability to move more than 200 tonnes per hour is valuable to stevedores and shipping operators who face bills of thousands of dollars a day for idle ships.
Mike Lehan, PM Engineering's general manager, says the win "is a huge accolade" for the company which employs more than 150 staff. It also helps lift its profile in the intensely competitive Australian market.
The 600 million-tonne Australian cargo industry is among the largest in the world and its bulk sector includes iron ore, coal and bauxite exports, which are all growing rapidly with Chinese demand for more bulk minerals.
The PM Grabs division has increased its exports, gaining new clients in Brisbane and Darwin. The company also supplied the diesel-hydraulic grabs to one of the world's largest nickel projects, Koniambo in New Caledonia.
A key requirement of the US$3 billion ($3.9 billion) project was strict control over the environmental impact of the mining and discharge activity.
Mr Lehan said customers, including ports and stevedores, were all under increasing pressure to reduce their operations' environmental footprint without compromising their productivity.
"The design of the grabs that appealed to the judges was the manner in which we managed to reduce the noise and dust emissions, while incorporating some innovative features that make these grabs class leaders for discharge productivity," said Mr Lehan.
Dust-reduction features include specially designed bucket seals to reduce spillage and a two-stage opening process to reduce losses in windy conditions.
The ability to slide the grab's engine out quickly for maintenance and repairs keeps down-time to a minimum and an on-board diagnostic system makes fault finding simple, while also providing data on engine performance.
