APM Terminals (APMT) has pledged to expand total throughput capacity at its Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) to 5.4 million TEU with the installation of four additional super-post-Panamax cranes, bringing the total number to 24.
The cranes are scheduled for delivery to the terminal in mid-2016; presumably in a bid accommodate the anticipated increase in trade volumes along the Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal was inaugurated on Thursday August 6, 2015, with the new nine-kilometre waterway via East Port Said recently commencing its construction work.
Jeff De Best, COO of APMT, said: “As one of the world’s most important waterways, the expanded Suez Canal will play an even greater role as a gateway of global trade, said, who attended the official Suez Canal expansion opening ceremonies held August sixth.
“The canal expansion, completed in just one year, is a great achievement for the people of Egypt, and we are hopeful that the planned construction of more infrastructure projects will enable even faster canal cargo volume growth and economic progress.”
APM Terminals is the majority shareholder in SCCT, with a 55% ownership. Other shareholders include Chinese-based COSCO Pacific, with 20%, the Suez Canal Authority, with 10.3%, and the National Bank of Egypt, with 5%.
The remaining shares are held by the Egyptian private sector.
Over US$800 million has been invested in the terminal, which opened in October 2004, and has become one of the busiest container facilities in the region.
Approximately one tenth of all global seaborne trade transits the Suez Canal, representing 18,000 vessels transiting annually, including container ships.
The new STS cranes, representing an investment of $42 million will each have a 72 metre reach, and a height of 52 metres, with the ability to handle the world’s largest vessels now entering the global fleet.
