International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) said unit Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) will soon be handling the largest boxships in Australia after the recent delivery of two new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes.
Australia’s first fully automated container terminal and one of world’s most advanced port facilities, will now be ready to receive the largest vessels that will come to Australia as part of the upsizing strategy of all major shipping lines globally, ICTSI said.
“This trend will lead to an increasing number of supersized vessels sailing into Phillips Bay and mooring at VICT — the only terminal in Melbourne capable of receiving them,” according to Bruno Porchietto, VICT chief executive officer.
VICT’s new automated cranes are the largest in Australia, with a lift height of 49 meters or 10 meters higher than the terminal’s five existing STS cranes.
The 60-meter boom outreach enables the new cranes to operate 22 containers across on a vessel. The existing cranes, on the other hand, are capable of handling 19 containers across with their 50-meter boom outreach.
The new cranes also offer better productivity with their lashing platforms mounted 15 meters high compared to the cranes that only allow pinning to be completed at the quay level.
“VICT’s acquisition of the new cranes form part of the AU$235 million expansion project that will increase the terminal’s capacity to 1.25 million TEUs. The terminal has also acquired six additional automated stacking cranes as part of the expansion, which will be completed by the end of the year,” said Porchietto.
