STS crane

A ship-to-shore (STS) crane is the rail-mounted quayside gantry that loads and discharges containers between vessel and apron. Its key dimensions are outreach, the distance the trolley can travel over the ship to reach the outermost container row, and lift height under the spreader. Post-Panamax and megamax STS cranes need outreach of 24 rows or more to work ultra-large container ships. Twin-lift and tandem spreaders raise productivity by moving two or four boxes per cycle, the main lever on berth throughput.