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Northport, at Port Klang, which
has been recently attracting more of the mega
sized containerships, is now focusing its
efforts to further boost the shipside
productivity and landside performance in an
attempt to quickly turnaround the large ships.
The port operating company, Northport Malaysia
Bhd, has taken steps to double the yard capacity
at Container Terminal 1 (CT1) and Container
Terminal 3(CT3) by acquiring more
state-of-the-art container handling equipment.
The port is now carrying out the straddle
carrier (SK) replacement programme with
Ruber-Tyred Gantries (RTGs) that are more suited
to carry out high density operations in the
transfer of containers within the container
yards.
Facilities Manager of Northport (Malaysia) Bhd,
Abi Sofian said the replacement programme would
initially cover the F-block at CT3 to beef up
the productivity at the terminal.
The initial work in the area where the RTGs will
be deployed commenced in September this year,
covering an area of about 24 acres behind Wharf
11 and is targeted for completion by August next
year.
Once completed the on-going development work is
targeted to increase the combined yard capacity
by another 369,000 TEUs.
With the completion of the yard development
work, Northport will be enhancing its total yard
handling capacity in excess of 2.2 million TEUs
at CT1 and CT3.
An additional 10 units of RTGs will be added at
the two terminals, complementing the operation
of existing 10 units of RTGs within the area.
Abi said the deployment of RTG would further
enhance Northport handling capacity as the RTGs
are designed for one over six stacking height
and one plus six row of containers as against
the Straddle carrier operation of two high
stacking.
“This will enlarge the handling capacity at our
yard tremendously and with this we will be able
to create a dedicated container area for export
and import. This is part of our continuous
efforts in providing value-added services to
ensure faster and smooth flow of containers in
and out of our yard,” said Abi.
Currently the container handling operations at
CT1 and CT3 is supported by more than 70
straddle carriers and 10 RTGs with a combined
yard capacity of 1.8 million TEUs. |
