A Tower Crane to See the Bigger Picture at the Dry Docks

The Saint Nazaire dry docks have passed a key milestone with the arrival of a modern 25-tonne tower crane. More efficient and more mobile, this piece of equipment redefines the landscape of the ship repair yard and improves its operational capabilities.

In response to the increasing size of vessels and to growing handling requirements, Nantes ‒ Saint Nazaire Port has acquired a tower crane and upgraded its infrastructure at the dry docks in Saint Nazaire.

This 5-million-euro investment will enable the Port to modernize its infrastructure and equipment to meet the future challenges of the ship repair sector. The acquisition is part of a major ongoing development of the facility and its activities. The equipment features speak for themselves: a reach of 75 metres (35 metres more than the old crane), a lift height of 46 metres (10 metres more than the previous crane), and the ability to travel over a 170-metre length of track.

Thanks to this new installation, the dry docks will be able to accommodate vessels with a greater overhead clearance, thereby increasing the facility’s reception capacity. With vessels now being bigger and bigger and handling requirements growing all the time, it was essential to invest in equipment that could rise to the challenges of the future.

A Work Project in Two Parts

Once the old 35-tonne crane had been dismantled, the work project was structured according to two main phases: firstly the civil engineering and roads, networks and utilities phase, which took place from September 2024 to January 2025 and included the demolition of the old structures, the laying of the foundations and the construction of the new tracks, then the crane assembly phase, which began in January and was completed with the commissioning of the new crane at the end of April 2025.