Konecranes Lands 53-Crane Order as YILPORT Pushes E-Hybrid Automation Across Three Continents

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Konecranes has secured a major order for 53 E-Hybrid Rubber-Tired Gantry (RTG) cranes from YILPORT Holding, a deal that will extend automated and lower-emission yard operations to four terminals in Europe, Africa, and Central America. The order, placed in the second quarter of 2026, signals sustained capital commitment by the Turkish terminal operator despite broader industry uncertainty around freight demand and equipment lead times.

YILPORT is deploying the cranes in batches over the next two years. The breakdown underscores a deliberate geographic spread: 10 automated E-Hybrid RTGs each for Liscont Container Terminal in Lisbon and Leixões Port in Porto, Portugal; 18 E-Hybrid RTGs for Acajutla Port in El Salvador; and 15 E-Hybrid RTGs for Takoradi Port in Ghana.

The Portuguese terminals will receive fully automated units equipped with Konecranes’ Auto-Gantry feature, enabling unsupervised gantry travel alongside automated stacking. The African and Central American terminals will operate manual E-Hybrid models. All four locations are covered by Konecranes’ regional service network, a factor both companies cited as critical for uptime and maintenance continuity.

Robert Yüksel Yıldırım, Founder, Chairman and CEO of YILPORT Holding, tied the order directly to the company’s growth trajectory and zero-carbon technology goals. “This agreement reflects YILPORT’s continuing strong growth and our long-term vision of investing in efficient, sustainable and future-ready port infrastructure worldwide,” he said in a statement. He described Konecranes as a “trusted partner” whose engineering reliability underpins YILPORT’s operational ambitions.

Tuomas Saastamoinen, SVP of Port Solutions at Konecranes, framed the deal as a deepening of an existing relationship. “Supplying 53 E-Hybrid RTGs to four YILPORT terminals around the world is an important milestone,” he said. The two companies collaborated on significant automated equipment deliveries to the same Portuguese terminals and to Sweden in 2025.

For the broader breakbulk and container terminal sector, the order highlights a continuing tension. Operators are under pressure to cut emissions and labor costs through automation, yet must justify heavy capital outlays against volatile freight markets and uncertain cargo forecasts. YILPORT’s decision to proceed with a multi-continent, multi-year rollout suggests confidence in underlying trade volumes on the Europe-West Africa and Central America corridors served by the four terminals.

The E-Hybrid RTG systems recover energy during container lowering and braking, reducing fuel consumption compared with conventional diesel RTGs. Konecranes has positioned this technology as a bridge solution for terminals not yet ready for full electrification, offering measurable emissions reductions without requiring extensive shore-power infrastructure.