Ports of Auckland has ordered three new container cranes, to be delivered in late 2018. The cranes will be used on the new deep-water container berth at the north end of Fergusson container terminal.
Deputy Chief Executive Wayne Thompson said “Container volumes continue to show healthy growth, in line with the economic and population growth of Auckland. For that reason we are investing in our people and infrastructure to ensure we can continue to meet the growing needs of Auckland and the Upper North Island. The new cranes are part of our strategy to grow our container throughput while respecting Aucklanders’ desire to protect the Waitematā harbour. It is a sustainable solution.”
“The new cranes will be able to carry up to four containers at once, so we will be able to load and unload ships faster. The new berth they will be installed on is our deepest, so this will become our premium berth able to handle the biggest ships with higher productivity.”
“The investment we are making at our terminal, in new equipment and automation, will allow us to significantly increase our capacity. Projects underway or planned will increase capacity from 900,000 TEUs a year currently to around 1.6 –1.7 million TEUs, enough to cater for the needs of an Auckland population of over 2.5 million. With further investment we estimate that on our existing land area we can handle up to 3 million TEUs, catering for an Auckland population of 5 million people.”
“Safety has been an important consideration in the design of these new cranes. In a New Zealand first, they will come fitted with ‘lashing platforms’ so that our people no longer have to work on the ground next to heavy machinery, reducing risk. Lashing platforms will also be retrofitted to our existing cranes. We will also improve driver ergonomics by using a better seat design.”
“The cranes come fitted with a number of features to reduce energy consumption, as well as a 26kW solar power system to offset mains power consumption.”
“With the arrival of the new cranes at the terminal next year, we will no longer need the old container cranes on Bledisloe wharf and they will be removed in due course. With the efficiency gains we have made over the last six years, we no longer need a second container terminal.”