New state-of-the-art equipment for ACT

This falls in line with ACT's new stage of investment involving the introduction of the latest in container handling equipment.

This is another phase of ACT's commitment to making Aqaba a world class container port and the best in the Middle East. With the new purchase of two ship gantry cranes, ACT will have a total of five gantry cranes for loading and discharge. This will improve the efficiency of discharge and loading ships and it will enable ACT to discharge the larger ships that have begun operation at Aqaba Container Terminal, much quicker.

Mr. Imad Fakhoury, Chairman of ACT said: "To stay ahead of the competition and keep up with the ever-changing demands, ACT has embarked on a long-term strategy that involves several stages of expansion over the next few years. We have crossed some of the stages and are embarking on the next investment, which is the introduction of brand new equipment to expand the capacity of the container terminal."

Mr. Patricio Junior, CEO of ACT said: "Today marks a milestone in this stage as we take the delivery of two new ship gantry cranes used for ship discharge, and three rubber tired gantry cranes used for handling in the storage yards. This will mean better utilization of the available space, and also improves the speed of delivery to and from the end users, such as exporters and importers."

Five more rubber tired gantries for use in the yard will be arriving in mid-October. The total value of equipment is about $30 million.