Two new gantries for Khorfakkan

The two Liebherr Post-Panamax cranes are the latest addition to the terminal's equipment, and bring the total number of gantries at KCT to sixteen.

The cranes were in action immediately after their inauguration with the 9,700 TEU 'CMA CGM Orfeo' becoming the first ship to make use of the Terminal's two new gantries in an unusually cool and wet Khorfakkan on 23 March 2009.

Speaking of KCT's latest acquisitions, Gulftainer Director and General Manager Peter Richards said, "While we, like everyone else, have been affected by the current economic downturn, we have decided to move ahead with our plans for expansion, and this includes these new gantry cranes. When the 'CMA CGM Orfeo' called at KCT in September last year, it was the largest ship ever handled at the terminal."

"The fact that this is no longer the case illustrates the rising prevalence of large container ships, and the wisdom of the Sharjah Ruler, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi's decision to expand KCT and the Sharjah Container Terminal to deal with more, bigger ships in the future. Although the ports and shipping industry has been quite severely affected by the global crisis, with some areas and regions suffering more than others, it is important that we continue to build for the future, and ensure that when the crisis has passed, Sharjah's ports are ready and able to service increased numbers of ships, particularly the larger vessels," Richards added.

"The fact remains that KCT is ideally placed, geographically, to save shipping lines time and money, especially since the terminal's speedy performance ensures that large, expensive container ships would not spend much time berthing and working. Right now, this fast, efficient turnover is exactly what shipping lines are looking for to cut down on costs, and the addition of these two new gantry cranes will help to improve KCT's already impressive performance even further in this regard," Richards continued.

KCT is one of the world's leading container transhipment ports, and is strategically located on Sharjah's Indian Ocean east coast, outside the sensitive Straits of Hormuz, close to the main east-west shipping routes.

Only three hours from the UAE's main centres of population, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, KCT is an ideal transhipment hub port with numerous feeder ship connections to Gulf Ports, Iran, India, Pakistan and East Africa. In recent years, KCT has been increasingly recognised not only for its ideal location, but also for its efficiency and productivity.