MANZANILLO International Terminal-Panama (MIT), a joint venture between Seattle-based SSA Marine and a group of Panamanian investors, has taken delivery of four Shanghai ZPMC super post-Panamax gantry cranes, as part of its US$270 million expansion project to eventually raise annual handling capacity to four million TEU, up from 2.5 million TEU at present.
The new cranes, with a reach of 25 container rows on deck, are expected to be up and running in October when the facility will boast a total of 11 postpanamax and eight super postpanamax container cranes along its 2,000-metre quay.
Panama's president Juan Carlos Varela with the Panama Maritime Authority Administrator and Minister of Maritime Affairs Jorge Barakat, along with a member of MIT's board of directors, Stanley Motta, visited the terminal located on the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, to observe the crane installation work.
"The arrival of those cranes and MIT's expansion are not only significant for the province of Colon where MIT is located but are key elements for consolidating Panama as a maritime and logistics centre, in particular, on the eve of the inauguration of the Panama Canal expansion and the new third lane," said Mr Varela.
MIT this year celebrated its 20th year of operations, and now controls the second highest container volume in the country, serving as an important transshipment hub in the Americas.
In June the terminal became the first in Latin America to deploy automatic container stacking cranes as part of the first phase of expansion that will increase capacity to three million TEU by year-end with an additional 395-metre, postpanamax berth, equipped with four new super post-Panamax cranes, and new ro-ro dolphins that will accommodate two ro-ro vessels simultaneously.
The environmentally-friendly cranes are capable of handling the biggest vessels in the world and have the capacity to be operated from a remote control station. By October, the terminal will be able to serve two new panamax vessels simultaneously.
"MIT's new cranes (valued at $50 million) are the largest in Latin America. Upon the completion of our latest expansion project, MIT will have invested almost $1 billion," said general manager Stacy Hatfield.
PORTS
07 September 2015 - 22:06
Manzanillo, Panama, CT takes 4 big cranes to create 3 million TEU capacity
MANZANILLO International Terminal-Panama (MIT), a joint venture between Seattle-based SSA Marine and a group of Panamanian investors, has taken delivery of four Shanghai ZPMC super post-Panamax gantry cranes,
PORTS
07 September 2015 - 22:06
Manzanillo, Panama, CT takes 4 big cranes to create 3 million TEU capacity
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