The End of Kockums Crane

The End of Kockums Crane

By Rajesh Karavadia

Some travel for the sole reason of getting a glimpse of the greatest things in this world, and bask in the wonders of some of the most visited places. If you have been to Sweden before 2002, or some local resident there, perhaps you've seen the Kockums Crane. It is the largest gantry crane in the whole world and is owned by the Germans. ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems had a subsidiary company named HDW who owned the crane.

Cranes are very important machineries used to lift heavy loads of different materials. A gantry crane is a type of crane that is similar to the overhead crane. Gantry cranes are also widely available in the market, and the Kockums crane is just one of them. Only now, it doesn’t longer exists.

Kockums crane can be found in Kockums AB in Malmo before 2002. Since it is the largest in the world, it can lift about 1,500 tons. Built in 1973-1974 over a shipyard, this gantry crane was never really used to lift anything because of the shipyard crisis in Sweden during the late seventies and eighties.

In 1997, it was used for the very last time in lifting the Oresund Bridge's fundamental high pillars. Alas, the crane was able only to lift a certain load. Since the crane was not used, in the 1990s the Kockums crane was sold to Burmeister & Wain, a Danish company that soon became bankrupt. It was shipped thereafter to Ulsan, South Korea. Hyundai painted the crane orange before it was shipped to their fabrication yard.

Before Kockums crane was dismantled, the crane was actually a landmark in Sweden.

For many decades, the Kockums crane dominated the skyline of Malmo, Sweden. Many people can actually see it because it was impressively high, wide, and heavy. After it was sold to South Korea, some say that it was then sold to South Vietnam, then to South Georgia. Kockums crane has a sad ending, but that's just the sad truth in this world of ours. Since Kockums crane has been in Sweden for many decades, the local residents have only the memory of the crane to live by.