APM Terminals has increased its previously announced US$70m investment plans for its Port Elizabeth facility in North America, and now plans an investment of US$200m. This figure includes ordering four next-generation Ship-To-Shore cranes to handle ultra-large container ships (ULCS).
These vessels are expected to start calling the port right after the heightening of the Bayonne Bridge is completed later this year. The heightening of the Bayonne Bridge, combined with the widened Panama Canal allows these ULCS liner services to call and be operated at the APM Terminals facility.
Further investments include an expanded gate complex designed to improve the trucker experience through a safer and faster cargo flow as well as upgrades to container handling equipment.
The President of APM Terminals North America, Wim Lagaay, announced: “Our goal is to make APM Terminals Port Elizabeth safer, easier to use and faster for our trucker community, more productive for our shipping line clients and more reliable for our clients’ supply chains expectations. These operational and infrastructure improvements are designed to keep APM Terminals Port Elizabeth at the forefront of the New York/New Jersey harbor by being the container terminal of choice to work with by our many clients and partners”.
The Bayonne Bridge, linking New Jersey with Staten Island will be raised to a height of 215ft (65.5m) from its original 151ft (46m) vessel passage clearance, allowing the latest generation of container vessels to enter Newark Bay without air draft issues.
APM Terminals’ Port Elizabeth facility handles over 2,100 trucks a day, 4000 terminal gate transactions and more than 500 vessel calls per year. The current capacity of 1.5m TEU will be expanded to 2.3m TEU, with berth expansion to accommodate three simultaneous ULCS vessel calls.
Source: APM Terminals
