growing Red Sea container volumes
Kalmar Industries has received orders for 14 rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes from two major Red Sea port facilities – ten for Jeddah South Container Terminal in Saudi Arabia and four to be delivered to the Port of Djibouti.
The orders represent a further strengthening of Kalmar RTG presence in the Middle East. VP for Kalmar Yard Cranes, Keijo Parviainen, comments:
“These latest orders reflect a growing trend that sees operators willing to invest in machines that deliver state-of-the-art quality, reliability and excellent productivity. Buyer-supplier partnership and a high level of after-sales service are also becoming increasingly important deal clinchers.
The RTGs to be delivered to Jeddah and the Port of Djibouti are 6+1 containers wide and 1 over 5 high. The machines for delivery to Jeddah will be the 16-wheel model.
The RTGs incorporate an intelligent, all-electric trolley design. As well as allowing easy access to components, this single-level trolley design features the Kalmar-developed stabiliser to eliminate all sway caused by external factors, thereby helping the operator to lock on to a container. In high RTGs where conventional sway-reduction methods are ineffective, something as simple as the wind can make the spreader swing and considerably hamper operations. In this intelligent design, operators can activate the stabiliser with the push of a button and the spreader is stabilised for easy and fast manoeuvrability. The stabiliser system is also available for retrofitting to older Kalmar RTGs.
The all-electric trolley design also eliminates hydraulic movements, making the RTGs not only maintenance free but also environmentally friendly due to the fact that no hydraulic oils are required. Meanwhile, positive traction ensures that the trolley always runs parallel to the rails and there is no diagonal movement or sliding, resulting in a notably higher productivity rate.
Kalmar has links with both Djibouti Port and Jeddah South Container Terminal through Dubai Ports Authority (DPA), which has long advocated Kalmar Smartrail container position verification and autosteering technology through a number of contracts and retrofit projects. DPA has a stake in both facilities through Dubai Ports International (DPI), which manages its growing global portfolio of port and terminal operations
In September 1999, DPI set up Siyanco in conjunction with Saudi Maintenance Corporation to manage and operate the South Container Terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port. Since then, through investment in new equipment systems, DPI has increased the terminal productivity by more than 100%.
In 2000, DPI signed an agreement with Djibouti Port under which it runs the facility for a period of 20 years, with the aim of more than doubling overall throughput. During the first year of operations DPI doubled the facility productivity and container throughput increased by 16%.
Red Sea container trade is experiencing a period of exceptional growth, due to a number of factors. The Saudi Arabian economy is performing well and local import demand is relatively strong. The Kingdom is also exporting a significant amount of containerised petrochemical exports to Asia, while conversion of traditional breakbulk cargoes to containers is helping boost box volumes. The various aid cargoes being shipped into the Middle East are also changing the dynamics of Red Sea port patterns.
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Kalmar is a global provider of heavy duty materials handling equipment and services to ports, intermodal traffic, terminals and demanding industrial customers. Kalmar focuses on supplying handling solutions that enable customers to operate with a high level of efficiency and reliability. Every fourth container or trailer transfer at terminals around the world is handled by a Kalmar machine.
Kalmar provides a large range of value added services such as maintenance contracts and fleet management. Manufacturing plants are situated in Sweden (as is the head office), in Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Malaysia, China and the USA.