Kalmar, the business area providing container handling solutions within Cargotec, has received an order for 25 straddle carriers from Transnet Limited t/a South African Port Operations (SAPO). The straddle carrier deliveries to Durban port will start in late summer 2006.
The Durban port handles over 60 percent of container traffic to and from South Africa and is the busiest port on the African continent. At present, Durban port handles approximately 1.8 million TEU (TEU stands for 20 ft container) targeting a capacity of 2.4 million TEU by 2007. To achieve this target SAPO is renewing its container handling equipment and will standardize its fleet to Kalmar equipment over time. The current order is continuation to an August order for 53 straddle carriers.