Khorfakkan Container Terminal has taken delivery of two new gantries, the leading regional port management and logistics firm has confirmed.
The two Liebherr cranes, capable of handling the widest post-Panamax vessels are the latest addition to the terminal’s equipment, and bring the total number of gantries at Korfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) to 16.
The cranes were in action immediately after their inauguration, with the Orfeo container ship becoming the first ship to make use of the Terminal’s two new gantries in an unusually cool and wet Khorfakkan on Monday.
Speaking of it’s latest acquisitions, port operator Gulftainer’s general manager Peter Richards said: “While we, like everyone else, have been affected by the current economic downturn, we have decided to move ahead with our plans for expansion, and this includes these new gantry cranes.
“When the Orfeo called at KCT in September last year, it was the largest ship ever handled at the terminal. The fact that this is no longer the case illustrates the rising prevalence of large container ships, and the wisdom of the Sharjah Ruler’s decision to expand KCT and the Sharjah Container Terminal to deal with more, bigger ships in the future,” he said.
“Although the ports and shipping industry has been quite severely affected by the global crisis, with some areas and regions suffering more than others, it is important that we continue to build for the future, and ensure that when the crisis has passed, Sharjah’s ports are ready and able to service increased numbers of ships, particularly the larger vessels,” Richards continued.
KCT is one of the world’s busiest container transhipment ports, and is strategically located on Sharjah’s Indian Ocean east coast, outside the sensitive Straits of Hormuz, close to the main east-west shipping routes.