Eurogate has booked four Automated Stacking Cranes from Konecranes for Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven, with handover set for the second quarter of 2028 and an option on four more units for Container Terminal Hamburg.

The order came through Eurogate Terminal Solutions GmbH, and Konecranes booked it in the third quarter of 2026. Neither company has disclosed the contract value. That silence is normal in crane deals. The equipment timeline matters more than the price tag here: two years between booking and handover is the realistic lead time shippers and carriers should plan around when a terminal promises automation.

What does this change for Wilhelmshaven?

The four ASCs will underpin Eurogate's plan to introduce automated container handling at Wilhelmshaven, Germany's only deep-water port capable of taking the largest boxships at any tide. The cranes will integrate with existing terminal equipment to move boxes automatically within the yard, replacing manual stacking moves in the container block area.

The commercial logic is straightforward. Automated stacking cuts labour exposure in a tight German port jobs market, raises yard density, and smooths the handoff between quay cranes and landside transport. For ocean carriers calling Wilhelmshaven, that translates into lower dwell variability. For forwarders and inland hauliers, it should mean more predictable gate and delivery windows once the systems bed in — though Q2 2028 is the earliest that benefit appears.

Eurogate is deliberately avoiding a single-vendor lock-in. The operator is taking a supplier-independent approach to automation, letting equipment from different manufacturers connect to the terminal's equipment control system. That flexibility shapes the Hamburg option too: if the Wilhelmshaven units perform, four more ASCs could follow at Container Terminal Hamburg under the same framework.

Konecranes won the order on its automation technology and its fit with the terminal's operational and technical requirements.

Axel Jachens, Project Manager at Eurogate Technical Services GmbH, said: "Konecranes has demonstrated a strong willingness to support ETS-MT in further developing our operations and accompanying us on our journey towards automated yard operations."

The technology behind the order

Each crane carries Konecranes' Active Load Control system, which reduces load sway and supports precise positioning. Less sway means faster, more accurate box placement — the difference between an automated yard that runs at rated speed and one that keeps slowing down for correction moves.

The machines are also built to work inside automation systems that mix equipment from multiple suppliers, consistent with Eurogate's open-architecture strategy.

The deal extends a relationship that runs back more than five decades, during which Konecranes has supplied straddle carrier solutions to Eurogate's German terminals. Konecranes is not new to this game either: it has delivered or has in operation more than 600 Automated Stacking Cranes worldwide.

One caveat for watchers of German port capacity: the Hamburg follow-on remains an option, not a confirmed order. And no financial terms are on the table. What is firm is the direction — Eurogate is committing capital to automated yards at its core German gateways, with Wilhelmshaven first in line and Hamburg holding a live trigger.