Our world faces many challenges, and certainly moving things has always been one of them. With increasing globalization and the required turnover of global produces and goods, we also see unlimited means to get things moved. And even if we know all about a very specific challenge, there are many alternatives on how a task can be accomplished.
Today we take this opportunity to highlight an important player which is in a broad sense, like BBC Chartering, involved in the business of moving things, yet in a totally different way. Like BBC Chartering vessels, cranes from Gottwald Port Technology GmbH, a subsidiary of Demag Cranes AG, today are common companions in ports around the world. Often these cranes are transported on board BBC Chartering vessels to reach their new home ports. This is about the 106 year old history of Gottwald, the development of its mobile harbor crane business and today’s global logistic challenges.
From Leer to Düsseldorf
The predecessor of Gottwald got created in the year 1906 with the founding of a Düsseldorf branch of ‘Ernst Halbach Maschinenfabrik’ which was headquartered at that time in Leer (East Frisia), a small town in the north of Germany coincidentally also home to BBC Chartering.
The Düsseldorf branch, called ‘Maschinenindustrie Ernst Halbach AG’, got incorporated in the commercial register on May 21, 1906. At the time, Düsseldorf was chosen as location since it provided good infrastructure and market access to the ‘Ruhrgebiet’ as booming industrial region.
The company’s know-how lay in the application of steam-powering technology for winches, road traction engines, and cranes. The company took off with success and early in 1912 it acquired the ‘Körting’ crane factory in nearby Lintorf.
It was in 1917 when the company got renamed for the first time into ‘Maschinen- und Kranbau AG’ or brief ‘MUKAG’.
This name was the first internationally known ‘brand’ for what was later to be called Gottwald. Largely responsible for the ‘fame’ was the success of the steam driven ‘VE’ excavator, designed back in 1910, mainly used for the construction industry. Fondly termed ‘MUKAG digger’, this machine was manufactured over 600 times in the following decades up to 1948 and wrote company history. Other successful products of that time were rail-mounted cranes, pile-driving machines, and drop pile hammers, all of which were steam driven.
Expansion, Depression & Gottwald
In 1918, the corporate activities of ‘MUKAG’ were focused on expansion and led also to the takeover of ‘Pöhlwerke’ in Gössnitz, Saxony; a factory which has been successfully producing traction engines and tractors for many years.
The acquisition marked an important step as it had its own diesel engine production and employed about 1,200 people.
However in the course of the world economic crisis which became the great depression in 1929, this entity falters and goes bankrupt. ‘MUKAG’ and all its group members were hit hard during this time.
It was in the 1920’ies when the sole managing general partner and main shareholder of the Düsseldorf bank ‘Schliep & Co.’, Consul General Leo Gottwald, acquired shares in ‘MUKAG’. In 1926 he purchased the majority of shares and in 1928 he attained full ownership becoming chairman of the supervisory board of ‘MUKAG’.
From this point on Leo Gottwald exerts important corporate influence. His crisis management in response to the worldwide depression included a program of healthy downsizing for ‘MUKAG’. Part of this program was to phase out the ‘Pöhlwerke’ and the sale of the crane factory in Lintorf.
A busy period followed characterized by economic growth and acquisitions in the 1930’ies. In 1936, ‘MUKAG’ was renamed to ‘Leo Gottwald KG’ marking the beginning of the Gottwald brand. In 1938, five factories belonged to the Group: the factories in Düsseldorf and Gössnitz providing engineering works and Hattingen/Ruhr, Regis-Breitungen/Thuringia and Bernburg/Saale providing steel works such as flanges, booms, and stamped parts. The workforce at the time totaled over 2,000 people all of which were effectively managed to realize high product quality and standards of engineering performance which found international recognition.
War years, steam renaissance and a new beginning
Although, the end of the steam-engine era has long been expected, the steam-powered drive system remained in service at Gottwald for some time for the company’s portfolio of excavators, cranes and pile drivers, particularly in the war years, when oil was in short supply and steam power was essential again. It is for this reason that the factory in Düsseldorf and its 280 staff remain quite unaffected by wartime restrictions, until key parts of the factory were bombed in the spring of 1944.
After 1945, entrepreneurial impetus, financial strength, strong will and an optimistic attitude point the way confronting the ruins of the war tackling the challenges of the future. The original plan of a complete factory demolition, as intended by the occupying forces, was dismissed in lieu of provisioning construction equipment to Germany’s rebuilding efforts in the post-war period.
In the years to follow, the factory site in Düsseldorf got rebuilt, modernized and expanded.
Reinventing mobile cranes
In 1950 Gottwald decided to focus on the production of rubber tire mounted mobile cranes. This was a far reaching decision as it points the company in a pioneering direction in the manufacturing of rubber-tired cranes suitable for an unprecedented broad range of applications. This was the dawning of an era that also gave birth to the
fast-travelling Gottwald truck-mounted cranes. And this also marked the beginning of Gottwald’s modularization approach, a principle that has proven itself and that is maintained to date.
The demand for Gottwald mobile cranes continued to rise steadily for manifold applications. Next to the post war reconstruction demand, Gottwald equipment was needed to support steelworks, dockyards and the petrochemical industry with various sizes and designs of mobile crane equipment.
A new product was born as well in that time: the mobile harbor crane. In 1956, the crane appears as a result of Gottwald’s realization that many rail-mounted cranes in maritime ports are not cost-effective and cannot be put into more economic use. The company developed a tire-mounted mobile crane based on the standard line of its heavy duty mobile cranes. Until today this step could proved itself successfully in more than 1,400 cases of Gottwald mobile harbor crane units sold worldwide.
Transportation of mobile harbor cranes
Due to the enormous amount of mobile harbor cranes in use around the world, and due to their durability, dependability, economy and flexibility, these cranes continue to be in great demand, both as used and new equipment. Buying ‘second-hand‘ certainly won‘t mean buying ‘second-class‘ as requirements may change before the end of a crane’s life cycle is reached. However, in any case these cranes require adequate maritime transportation when moved to new locations.
Generally speaking, the cranes can be transported in three different ways. They can be moved fully assembled, partly assembled, or as assembly groups. Depending on crane size and space requirements different types of vessels may be selected to facilitate the transport. Such can be a multipurpose vessels, heavy lift vessel, ro-ro vessels, dock-type ships, or barges.
There is a constant trade-off to be considered between the available means of transportation, the time needed to prepare the transport, and the actual execution of the transport. Distance, time, cost and cargo handling are crucial parameters that influence the actual carrier selection.
As heavy lift operator, BBC Chartering helped to facilitate the ocean carriage of countless crane shipments. The fleet portfolio of BBC Chartering provides always a suitable vessel for the assignment. Often fully assembled cranes on deck of the vessel are shipped together with assembly groups or partly assembled cranes stowed in the cargo holds.
“Although we can say that loading a crane is almost standard business for us, we are aware of the responsibility that this operation bears. It needs experienced people, both on the shipper’s side and from the carrier, to execute such operations. Even the best planning requires you to take decisions onsite as any cargo operation may provide you with contingent challenges” , says Ottokar Vetter, Senior Port Captain at BBC Chartering, who has executed countless ‘crane-cargo’ operations for the carrier.
Success means working together
Despite sharing the same geographical roots, i.e. the city of Leer in Lower Saxony, Gottwald and BBC Chartering can share experiences of many executed transports in the past. And if the future tells that both propositions continue to be needed by clients, any organization is charged to align the resources to ensure the project can be delivered in time and budget. Meeting market requirements is imperative and hence represents ‘excellence in keeping the world in motion.