The Cai Mep International Terminal (CMIT) in Vietnam’s Ba Ria-Vung Tau province said it achieved a new berth productivity milestone in container vessel handling after posting a record 124.95 berth moves per hour using just four ship-to-shore quay cranes.
CMIT said the new record was logged while working the Gjertrud Maersk late last month. Average gross productivity for the vessel exceeded 36 moves per crane per hour across the four cranes.
“Whilst we are aware of vessels achieving berth productivity slightly higher than this within the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex, this has been achieved whilst deploying 5 or more quay cranes,” said Finn Mogensen, head of operations at CMIT.
“We believe this is a new record for a four crane operation, and we expect to deliver a further quantum leap in berth productivity for our customers in 2012 with the delivery of a fifth quay crane in January,” he added.
CMIT handled its first vessel, CMA CGM Columbia, on March 30 this year while the terminal was still under construction. Since then, it said, it has welcomed 105 vessel calls and handled more than 155,000 20-foot export and import containers to and from Vietnam’s major trading partners in Europe, North America, and Asia.
Located about 50 kilometers southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, CMIT is the first container terminal in Vietnam to offer shipping lines direct access to the 14-meter deep Cai Mep Terminal Channel, and the first to provide super-post Panamax quay cranes catering to ultra-large container ships up to 22 containers wide.
