Portal cranes have developed alongside the growth of port operations and serve as essential heavy equipment for port loading and unloading operations. They feature stable structures, large working ranges, and high efficiency, mainly used for handling bulk cargo, general cargo, and containers. During their development, portal cranes have gradually been extended to applications with working conditions similar to ports, such as shipyards and hydropower station construction sites.

They can be classified into three categories by purpose:

① Handling portal cranes: Mainly used in ports and open storage yards, employing grabs, hooks or containers for loading/unloading operations.

② Shipbuilding portal cranes: Primarily used at shipyards, floating docks and outfitting sites for hull assembly and equipment installation lifting work.

③ Construction and installation portal cranes: Mainly employed at hydropower stations for dam pouring, equipment and precast component lifting, generally using hooks. They feature good transportability for complete machine assembly/disassembly, deep lowering capability of lifting tools, and excellent adaptability to temporary work and trestle operations.