Bigger ships mean more moves per call, which in turn means a logical requirement for additional berth capacity, or so conventional wisdom would state. This article contends that upgrading berth capacity alone in order to tackle mega-ships will lead to congestion throughout yard facilities. I believe that additional capacity can be achieved whilst avoiding the spectre of congestion by improving the efficiency of each quay crane at a berth and by increasing the number of quay cranes on one ship.
THE NGICT CONCEPT
Because the new generation integrated container terminal (NGICT) concept is so expansive and there’s limited space with which to explore the many facets and nuances of the concept in this article, this piece touches only the main characteristics of this new concept and focuses on the stack area in most detail. This is because increasing the speed of stack operations is a direct challenge for every terminal in the world…
