Motherwell Bridge, a subsidiary company of the Hili Group, today celebrated the building of its 100th rubber tyre gantry (RTG) crane.

The company has had significant export success, but its milestone was celebrated at Malta Freeport, which is taking 50 of the company's cranes.

The first 10 RTCs were erected in Malta for KoneCranes in December 2005, followed by 51 in various terminals in Spain between 2006 and 2009.

Another two RTGs were erected for KoneCranes in Oman and the erection of 50 RTGs at Mata Freeport is now under way.

The company is also involved in a range of other services involving the manufacture of high quality structures, structural steel, storage tanks, exhaust ducting and stacks and container handling cranes. Its international clients have included Becthel UK, ABB of Switzerland, J&B of Greece, Sulzer Switzerland, iemens, Tokyo Corp, Sidem France, Schlumberger USA, and Brown and Root in the Uk and Algeria.

Local clients included Enemalta, BOV, MIA, Skanska, Ergon, Viset, Corinthia, Malta Shipyards and St George's Park.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt congratulated the company this morning, highlighting the way how it had recovered after the international recession. The company was important for the Maltese economy because of its specialist nature, he said.

Dr Gatt observed that Malta Freeport too was back on the upswing. Its growth, he said was the fastest among competing ports and it was 'back to record numbers.'