By
Rebecca Gibson |
TTS Port Equipment has installed a flexible passenger gangway system at Sweden’s Port of Visby to improve passenger flow management and increase its capacity to handle cruise traffic efficiently.
Partially funded by the European Union as part of the Resecentrum Gotland project – which aims to raise the port's international status – the system was designed, manufactured and installed by TTS to connect visiting ships to Visby’s cruise terminal.
After demolishing the existing static gangway, TTS replaced it with a movable, elevated gangway, a fixed walkway, an elevator and several sets of staircases. In addition, TTS renovated the port’s exiting 270 m open gangway to provide cover for passengers walking between the terminal and the ship.
The movable walkway is fitted with a six-wheel bogie frame and a motor drive, enabling users to reposition it along the quay’s 68 m fender line and connect it to the vessel’s various doors. It is designed to serve ships berthed at various points along the quay and can be raised vertically to a height of six metres by hydraulic cylinders. The link connecting the gangway to the vessel operates telescopically and follows the vessel’s vertical and transverse movements automatically, increasing passenger safety and minimising the risk of detachment.
Following the completion of the project in May 2013, TTS released a time-lapse video of the work involved.