International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) will soon take delivery of eight brand new rubber-tired gantries (RTG) to support impending Berth 6 operations of the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT).
An investment worth $10.7 million, the new RTGs will arrive in two batches beginning June next year in time for the startup of Berth 6, another multi-million dollar investment.
The order will raise the terminal’s RTG fleet from 37 to 45, the largest RTG fleet in the Philippines and among other ICTSI-operated terminals worldwide. Furthermore, this investment, together with the startup of Berth 6, will raise MICT’s current annual capacity of 1.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 2.5 million TEUs.
The new Kalmar RTGs are configured to provide one over five high stacking and six containers plus roadway wide. Operation speeds are also higher than existing cranes but with lower noise and less exhaust emission. These RTGs will yield fuel savings of at least 20% compared to the current fleet.
On top of this, an order has been placed for two new ZPMC super post-Panamax quay cranes also for Berth 6. These cranes, capable of lifting containers on 18-container wide vessels, will enter service in 2012 and share many of the high-technology features incorporated into the RTG design.
For Berth 6, ICTSI is investing a total of $110 million.
