Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), the newest container facility at Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP), added to its arsenal two quay cranes capable of stacking containers 24 across on vessel, along with six RTGs manufactured by Zhenhua Port Machinery Company (ZPMC) - featuring the latest technology, such as crane monitoring systems (CMS), single and twin lifts. The two cranes, that berthed safely at the terminal onboard MV Zhenhua, is the industry's most advanced ship-to-shore container cranes and advanced tandem lift gantry cranes (RTGs), RSTG said in a statement. RSGT is the only terminal at JIP designed to the next generation of super-mega vessels of 13,000+ TEUs, adding an annual capacity of up to handle two million twenty- foot-equivalent units (TEU) annually to the existing port. The delivery brings the total number of cranes currently serving the gateway terminal's four berths and 50,000TEU stacking yard to 8 QC and 26 RTGs. “To date the RSGT is squarely on track as planned with its equipment schedule,” said CEO Aamer Alireza. “Simply we are investing in the economic futures of Jeddah and Saudi,” he said. “RSGT's strategy is to spearhead the development of the maritime and logistics sector, ensuring JIP's infrastructure and our own operations keeps pace with market growth,” Alireza noted. He said commercial operations started at the terminal in the fourth quarter of 2009, with full operations scheduled by Q4 2010. “Since our warmly welcomed emergence on the maritime scene, many significant events have taken place. First and foremost, the figures of container trade coming out of Saudi today mirror our predictions. The country has fared better than most with an upward trend in containerization,” he added. The total investment in the world-class Greenfield facility, constructed under a BOT with the Saudi Sea Port Authority, has reportedly exceeded $510 million, the statement added.
