The Sihanoukville Autonomous Port (SAP) has recently expanded its container handling capacity with the addition of four brand new rubber-tyred gantry cranes imported from Japan.
The new equipment is part of a $22 million investment plan to bolster the port’s container throughput capacity by 80 percent, as recently disclosed by SAP chairman Lou Kim Chhun.
Another two gantry cranes are due to arrive from China by the end of the year, raising capacity even further and facilitating the loading and off-loading of containers on ships.
“The new machinery will increase the port’s capacity to 700,000 TEUs,” said the chairman, referring to the unit of cargo capacity used in the shipping industry based on the volume of a 20-foot-long intermodal container.
“The new cranes will allow ships to load and unload in four hours if they choose, or more slowly if they are trying to save on fuel consumption and are not on a strict timeline,” he added.
The SAP is Cambodia’s only deep water seaport, accounting for approximately 65 percent of all container shipments. Container throughput reached 390,000 in 2015, an increase of 17 percent compared to the year before.
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