Liebherr has had a record year with its maritime mobile harbour cranes. The order intake volume in the past year 2021 was higher than ever before.
In total, more than 80 new units and also various used units were sold to customers worldwide. Liebherr mobile harbour cranes were ordered from 31 different countries with all continents being represented.
There was strong growth in the Middle East and West Africa regions and stable core markets in Europe as well as North and South America. As in previous years, the LHM 550 is the most popular crane, closely followed by the LHM 420. A strong increase in sales of the LHM 800 was recorded, which more than tripled compared to the previous year.
The strong sales in 2021 has helped build up a very promising order book in the mobile harbour crane
sector and we can look forward to 2022 with confidence. “The Liebherr mobile harbour crane and its
clear technical advantages in the MHC market have once again convinced customers all over the world.
I am very proud of our sales team here in Rostock and in more than 40 sales and service companies
worldwide. Only through our cooperative and partnership-based collaboration can we meet the needs of
our customers,” says Andreas Müller, Sales Director for Liebherr Mobile Harbour Cranes.
Another record was set in the area of portal cranes. Liebherr has never before sold so many harbour
cranes with a portal substructure. More than 20 new units were Liebherr Portal Slewing Cranes (LPS).
Liebherr was able to close the year with a major portal crane project at the end of 2021. The leading
steel manufacturer in Italy, Acciaierie d’Italia, ordered four new LPS 800 portal cranes. The four
machines are 100 % electrically powered and allow for emission-free bulk handling. They are also
equipped with Liebherr’s Pactronic hybrid system, which supplies the crane with additional power when
required.
Almost half of all mobile harbour cranes sold in 2021 were equipped with an electric main drive and thus
equipped for emission-free cargo handling. The demand for various electric drive solutions has doubled
when compared to the sales year 2019.
2021 was also the year of the all-electric LPS 420 E portal crane. There is a clear trend within the
maritime crane industry towards more electric main drives visible. In addition, the advanced LPS 420 E,
which is powered exclusively by electric motors, also had a record year. Although sales have been
consistently stable since its launch, a total of six portal cranes were sold in 2021 – one of them to
Germany. Euroports Germany, based in Rostock, will commission the first all-electric LPS 420 E in the
European market next year.
In addition to the various electric solutions, Liebherr also offers the possibility of operating dieselpowered
equipment in a more environmentally friendly way. In the first half of the year, the first LHM 420
powered by HVO diesel was delivered to the Swedish port city of Södertälje. HVO Renewable Diesel is a
fossil-free premium diesel product made from 100 % renewable raw materials that emits no additional
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A further step towards sustainability was achieved in September of
2021 when Liebherr-MCCtec was awarded the EcoVadis Gold Medal. EcoVadis is the world’s most
renowned provider of sustainability ratings with over 85,000 companies assessed. The gold medal
places Liebherr-MCCtec among the top 5 % of all rated companies and the top 3 % of manufacturing
companies.
