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What The Port Doesn’t Tell You: Quay Gantry Cranes

WHAT THE PORT DOESN’T TELL YOU: QUAY GANTRY CRANES
Imagine traveling on the Penang Bridge, and you spot immensely-sized, yellow machinery positioned near the wharves. At a glance, it looks akin to an oversized giraffe drinking at the location. The machine you just saw is known as the Quay Gantry Crane – Or QGC for short, and it is Penang Port’s limelight in the port operation for many, many years.

So, what is a Quay Gantry Crane? Simply put, QGCs are used to load containers on and off container ships. Ever since the 70s, Quay (Pronounced as Kee) Gantry Cranes completely changes how the port handles its containers. We have evolved from transferring our containers using pulleys and human efforts to using mega – machinery that saves us a lot of time, and it’s safer too.

Did You Know?
At a glance, you can guess a port’s performance by simply counting the number of QGCs the port has. If you notice a crane with its head lowered down, that means it is ‘active’ and is transferring the container from the ships to the yard. By Penang Port’s standards, 1 QGC can move up to 27 containers in an hour. In Penang Port, we even have a twin-lift crane, which can lift two 20-foot containers simultaneously.

What Do We Import and Export?
Penang Port usually imports based on Malaysia’s current demand. Among those are; electronic materials, housing material, food and provisions, halal food, and building materials. Meanwhile, Penang Port mainly exports rubber products. So, the next time you look at Penang’s oversized giraffe again, know that some of your favourite products or brand imports are handled there.

Be it the Penang Bridge, or KOMTAR, Penang is blessed with historical landmarks dated years back. Among them, the Quay Gantry Crane stood the test of time as one of the most distinctive landmarks in the Penang State.

 

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