Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), the first fully automated container facility at Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP), said it has deployed two more STS cranes quayside in time for operations at the Saudi port.

The move is in line with its plan to expand its throughput capacity, deploying new equipment, said a top official.

Arriving on the "Zhen Hua 20" the 5th batch of equipment included two of  industry’s most advanced ship-to-shore container cranes, bringing the total number of cranes currently serving quayside to ten, Tan Lye said.

The Kingdom’s first Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) port project, RSTG is spearheading the development of the country’s maritime and logistics sector and well set to redefine container business in the region, he added.

Showcasing commitment the terminal operators, despite the global downturn, maintained their pace, consecutively advancing the Jeddah port’s infrastructure in line with market growth.

"JIP has experienced resurgence in container volume growth in the first half of this year, resonating with our expectations," Tan Lye said.

“The slight upswing in the global economy and fear of ‘the specter of congestion’ has prompted most terminal operators to rethink their investments. Luckily RSGT has always remained ahead of the game. We continued, despite the world crisis actually ordering more equipment than initially proposed,” he noted.

The new STS cranes, capable of stacking containers 24 across outfitted with the up-to-the-minute technology, such as crane monitoring systems, single and twin lifts enabling each crane to simultaneously handle two 40ft containers, have been positioned at the feeder berth which used solely by vessels calling at the terminal.

Notably RSGT is the only terminal on in JIP capable of receiving the next generation of super-mega vessels 13,000 TEUs and above.

With the latest technology and state of art equipment already in place the terminal  will ensure high productivity, raising the overall port’s capacity by up to 2M teu’s annually, Tan Lye said.

Commercial operations started at the terminal in December 2009 with full operations scheduled by the end of this year.

“RSGT is the first facility in the region to deploy a unique combination of highest standard of equipment and state of art technology”, he stated.

‘These new cranes will certainly fulfill an essential component of RSGT’s long-term plans for enhanced efficiency,’ he added.-TradeArabia News Service