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Underlining its commitment to the Karachi port market, Hutchison Ports Pakistan (HPP) has taken delivery of three new remote-controlled quayside container gantry cranes as part of its deepwater terminal’s second phase of development. HPP claims its latest investment in the port of Karachi, which takes the number of quayside cranes at the terminal to 11, makes it the first in the South Asia region to operate semi-automated, cabin-less cranes.
The cranes were built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries China (ZPMC), which has also supplied HPP with 24 remote controlled RTG stacking gantry cranes. These are also the first of their type to be commissioned at a port in Pakistan.
The new remote-controlled quay cranes have a lift capacity under the spreader of 65 tons and are expected to significantly increase not just container throughput capacity, but also overall operational efficiency. Captain Syed Rashid Jamil, General Manager and Head of Business Unit, Hutchison Ports Pakistan, added, “We will be able to further enhance the speed of our operations, directly and indirectly benefitting our customers immensely.”
The deployment of the new cranes has now been completed and they’re are fully operational at the Karachi terminal. Five more automated quayside cranes are due to arrive at the HPP facility by 2012. Furthermore, the company expects to receive eleven more RTG cranes by October and a further 13 stacking gantry cranes by 2021.
