The drive down to Hatay Iskenderun takes you to the very southern edge of Turkey, where the mountains fall into the Mediterranean and steel is the language of business. This is Tosyalı Holding’s transhipment port – a specialist hub supplying the local steelworks with scrap from around the world.
Awesome Earthmovers travelled to the site to see how a fleet of Sennebogen material handlers – headed by the 895 E Hybrid and 880 EQ – keeps scrap and bulk materials moving, and how local dealer Forsen Machinery has helped turn green machines into everyday workhorses.
We met mechanical engineer Okan Gök from Forsen Machinery Services on the quayside, with Panamax vessels alongside and an 895 E Hybrid already hard at work in the hold.
Tosyalı’s operation may seem simple at first glance but in reality, it requires careful planning and strong coordination. Ships arrive loaded with scrap steel from multiple markets. The port’s job is to get that material out of the vessel, sorted and into the steel plant with minimal delay.
“Behind the port, there is a Tosyalı steel factory,” explains Okan. “They purchase scrap from all around the world and unload it from ships here. Later, Tosyalı Harsco, established through Tosyalı’s partnership with the US-based Harsco, takes over the sorting operations. Between the port and Tosyalı Harsco they run around fifty-two Sennebogen machines, from small handlers to the biggest 895s.”
Tosyalı was one of the first customers in the world to purchase the 895 for port work and has since become a major reference site for Sennebogen. Their feedback helped shape the final set-up of the gentle giant now working in ports worldwide.
“ELECTRICITY FROM THE MAIN LINE IS
MORE EFFICIENT
FOR THEM THAN RUNNING ON DIESEL ALL DAY.”
At first glance, the 895 E Hybrid doesn’t look like a material handler so much as a piece of infrastructure. With an operating weight of around 420 tonnes and a reach of up to 40 metres, it is officially the largest material handler in the world. Mounted on a crawler gantry and fitted with a heavy orange-peel grab, the machine at Tosyalı is purpose-built for high-volume scrap handling on steel tracks.
The giant green boom reaches deep into Panamax and post-Panamax holds, lifting up to around twelve tonnes of scrap per bite with a 13-yard grab. On our visit, the 895 was unloading a bulk carrier almost continuously, slewing smoothly across the quay to feed waiting stockpiles. From the operator’s raised Portcab, visibility across the ship and berth is excellent, allowing precise positioning even at full outreach.
Underneath the tower, the 895’s party trick is its Green Hybrid system. Twin hydraulic cylinders and an energy storage module recover boom energy on the downstroke and feed it back into the lifting cycle, cutting energy demand by up to 55 percent compared with a conventional hydraulic set-up. At Tosyalı, that system is paired with a 500 kW electric drive, drawing power from the quay rather than burning diesel.
“They are all hybrid and they mostly use them on electricity,” says Okan. “Electricity from the main line is more efficient for them than running on diesel all day.”
Where the 895 E Hybrid takes care of deep-hold unloading and long-reach ship work, the 880 EQ balance material handler covers a different part of the cycle. With an operating weight in the 215–270 tonne range and a boom length of up to 35 metres, the 880 EQ is designed to sit in one position and cover a wide working radius – ideal for stockyard duty and feeding shredders or conveyors.
At Tosyalı and Harsco, the balance machines handle pre-sorted scrap, loading fixed plant and maintaining stockpiles. The EQ system counterbalances the boom, drastically reducing the energy required to move it and allowing smaller drives to handle the same work envelope. In practice, that means less installed power, lower running costs and a calmer, more stable feel for the operator.
Forsen Machinery sits at the centre of this story. Based in Istanbul and approaching two decades in the sector, Forsen is the official Sennebogen distributor in Turkey, supplying material handlers, cranes and attachments along with full service and spare parts support.
“Tosyalı gets the handling power it needs; Forsen keeps the machines turning; and Sennebogen’s green giants prove that high-capacity port work and electric efficiency can sit on the same pedestal of steel.”
“Forsen Machinery is the only Sennebogen dealer in Turkey,” says Okan. “In this region alone we have sold around 200 machines. Across the whole country there are between 800 and 1,000 Sennebogen units working, mainly in steel and port applications.”
According to Okan, Sennebogen dominates the local market. “If you look at the ports, 95 percent of the market is owned by Sennebogen. All of the ports have at least one of our machines – usually more.” Their most sold model is the 835, but the best-loved is the 895, not least at Tosyalı where multiple units are now in daily service.
Forsen not only supplied the machines; it also handled installation and commissioning. When the first 895 for Tosyalı arrived, the machine was delivered in pieces on a convoy of trucks and assembled on site within just a few days before test running the 500 kW drive and port attachment.
For Awesome Earthmovers, this visit to Iskenderun follows earlier time spent at IDC Port Aliağa, where port manager Emre Söyler is also betting on electric Sennebogen handlers to keep bulk cargo moving with fewer emissions and lower noise. Tosyalı’s fleet takes that concept further, scaling up to some of the largest electric material handlers on the market and building an entire scrap-to-steel workflow around them.
Back at the quayside, the impact is obvious. The 895 E Hybrid works with a steady hum rather than a roar, the 880 EQ quietly rakes stockpiles into shape and smaller Sennebogen machines and excavators shuttle between piles and plant. Tosyalı gets the handling power it needs; Forsen keeps operations running smoothly; and Sennebogen’s green giants prove that high-capacity port operations and electric efficiency can coexist on the same solid steel foundation.
"They are all hybrid and they mostly use them on electricity. Electricity from the main line is more efficient for them than running on diesel all day." – Okan Gök, Forsen Machinery.
"Between the port and Harsco they run around fifty-two Sennebogen machines, from small handlers to the biggest 895s." – Okan Gök.