How to specify reeling and festoon cables for port cranes, gantries, stackers and reclaimers: speed, tensile load, torsion and fibre optic types.
European ports are investing heavily in automation and electrification: ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, rail-mounted and rubber-tyred gantries, stackers and reclaimers increasingly run on electrical power supplied through reeling cables. The same applies to steelworks, bulk terminals and heavy industry. A reeling cable lives a hard life — it is wound and unwound under tension, often at high speed, and exposed to weather — so specifying it correctly is essential.
Reeling cables based on the German DIN VDE 0250 constructions are widely used across Europe:
Reel manufacturers usually calculate the permitted tensile load and minimum drum diameter for a given cable. Share the cable’s outer diameter, weight and tensile rating with them early.
Most premature reeling cable failures come from torsion introduced during installation or by misaligned guides. Cables should be unrolled from the delivery drum without twisting, laid out straight before being wound onto the machine reel, and installed in the direction recommended by the manufacturer. A cable that “corkscrews” in service is a sign of torsion and should be corrected immediately.
Overhead cranes often combine a festoon system with a hanging control pendant. For that, a pendant control cable with integrated strain-relief elements is the right choice — standard control cables are not designed to carry their own weight.
Reeling cables for large machines are long, heavy and often made to order. Ports and terminals usually keep a spare length of the main supply cable on site. When budgeting a crane project, plan the spare cable purchase together with the initial supply to benefit from the same production run.
Browse our crane and reeling cables and send the reel data through our quote request. We will propose a suitable construction and coordinate the data sheet with your reel supplier if needed.
The reel type, travel speed and acceleration, travel length and feed point, maximum tensile load, guide rollers and deflections, voltage and cores, fibre optic requirements and the environment.
The most common cause is torsion introduced during installation or by misaligned guides. Unroll the cable without twisting, lay it out straight before winding it onto the reel and check guide alignment.
Yes. Reeling cables such as the MSFO and MSSFO designs integrate optical fibres for automation and remote crane operation, avoiding a separate data cable or slip ring for communication.
Crane & Reeling CablesThis cable is specially designed for mobile equipment operating under high to extreme mechanical stresses It is engineered to withstand high travel speeds, dynamic tensile loads, multi-directional changes in movement…
Crane & Reeling CablesThis cable is specially designed for mobile equipment operating under high mechanical stresses It is engineered to withstand high travel speeds, dynamic tensile loads, multi directional changes in movement across…
Crane & Reeling CablesThis cable is specially designed for mobile equipment operating under high to extreme mechanical stresses with integrated fibre optics for the combined transmission of energy and data It is engineered…
Crane & Reeling CablesThese flexible low-voltage reeling cables are designed for power supply applications under high mechanical stresses. They are particularly suitable for use in cable reels, hoists, lifts, portable engines, traction motors,…
Industrial CablesThese power and control flat cables can be used on festoons systems on handling equipment. as overhead cranes. They are Used as control cables in lifts, elevators and conveyor systems.…
Industrial CablesThese pendant cables are used as control or feeder cables in lifts and hoists. The two steel load bearing elements can be detached without damaging the outer sheath and fixed…
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