(Virtual Showroom) BB Cranes is to manufacture its first 30-metre-span overhead crane, a record for this Cape Town-based company and the direct result of improved manufacturing capabilities and a recently expanded factory floor.

The wide-span double-girder electric overhead travelling crane is one of six ordered by boatbuilders Robertson and Caine, the largest manufacturer of catamarans in the Southern Hemisphere and the third largest globally. BB’s 30‑metre span, 5-ton capacity crane is for the factory in Montague Gardens, Cape Town.

Robertson and Caine has also ordered two single-girder and two double-girder BB machines, all with 5-ton capacity. They will span 20 metres (two cranes), 19 metres and 18 metres. The sixth crane on order is a 10-ton double-girder machine with a span of 20 metres.

BB will assemble all six from standard components, and fit them with twinned short-headroom Condra hoists – two per crane. There will be variable-speed drives on the long- and cross-travels for precise boat positioning.

Asked to comment, a BB Cranes spokesman explained that three of the six cranes would be manufactured simultaneously with two other wide-span machines ordered by Rovic, an independent agricultural machinery manufacturer that commissioned three double-girder overhead cranes in the first half of 2024, two of them designed with 28-metre spans just two metres shy of BB’s new 30-metre record.

“Our crane spans are usually anything between 18 and 25 metres, so we see the 28-metre-span machines for Rovic – and especially the 30-metre span crane for Robertson and Caine – as justifying our decision to expand BB’s capabilities and increase our factory floor space,” the spokesman said.

BB has steadily upgraded its capabilities and procedures at Rivergate Industrial Park since 2022, when BB Cranes became a member of the Condra group.

In June 2024, the company increased its factory floor area by 400 square metres.

“All of these cranes represent turnkey deliveries from design through to installation. For us, they are affirmation of BB’s decision to grow,” said the spokesman.

Robertson and Caine has been BB Cranes’ customer for twenty years. Current work for the boatbuilders includes partial on-site automation of a 16-ton crane used in repetitive applications, control of which will be reduced to the single push of one button to accelerate production and improve productivity.

The BB Cranes spokesman explained that the number of enquiries for automated cranes was increasing.

“We offer automation across our product range, working in collaboration with Condra’s design office,” he said.

“Condra is accumulating automation experience, and is currently automating a crane for use in wrap-and-protect operations in Gauteng. We hope to see more automated cranes among our customers here in Cape Town,” said the spokesman.

Currently equipped with eight BB cranes, Robertson and Caine’s new order will bring its total of BB machines to fourteen.

All six of the new cranes will be delivered during November and December 2024.