The move reflects current market trends towards an ever increasing number of 18,000+ teu vessels with greater stack heights for containers loaded above deck, the company said in a press release.
BEST is the only terminal in the Mediterranean with 11 cranes capable of handling mega boxships and its operational capability has been further improved by increasing the height of three of these from 42m under spreader to 47m.The upgraded cranes allow BEST to accommodate container ships loaded with containers stowed up to 11-high on deck.
BEST ceo Guillermo Belcastro said: “BEST has facilities to handle vessels of all sizes. It is the clear port-of-choice for the largest megaships and last year we had 139 calls by vessels of over 13,000 teu. Having 11 cranes on the port and increasing the height of three of these cranes will give us greater flexibility to accommodate the largest ship size categories”.
He noted that the new investment has strengthened the terminal’s strategic position as the most efficient terminal in the Mediterranean, offering sustained productivity levels of over 40 moves per hour.
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