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Three huge cranes that have just been retired from service at Port of Immingham are being completely recycled.

The Gottwald cranes, weighing in at a collective 900 tonnes, are being decommissioned after 40,000 hours of service - the equivalent of being operated continuously for more than four-and-a-half years.

Recently replaced by new Liebherr models in a £9.7 million Associated British Ports investment to optimise efficiency and clean up quayside operations, the 60-metre high plant equipment dates back more than 20 years, to 2002. Some remain in operation, with parts stripped and retained, while what is left will be cut up and sent to the scrap yard for recycling.

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Simon Bird, ABP’s director for the Humber ports, said: “We’ve been investing significantly in cranes, and with the three new Liebherr cranes on site and working, we can now retire these Gottwald ones.

“With our sustainability strategy we have been able to salvage about £250,000 worth of parts from these cranes which will be utilised in our robust maintenance programme to ensure similar models can be kept in service until it’s time to retire them.

“It’s part of our wider strategy investment in future-proofing the Humber ports and giving our customers the confidence that the ports remain resilient, and we are giving them what they need in having reliable and efficient cranage.

“The new Liebherr cranes are more energy efficient, running on hydrogenated vegetable oil, with an option to switch to all electric.”