King Abdullah Port to receive 28 advanced Liebherr cranes
King Abdullah Port has received 28 sophisticated Liebherr cranes to start the next phase of expansion of the Red Sea Gateway’s container terminals. Engineering teams are currently assembling the cranes, which are expected to become operational towards the beginning of next year, raising the port’s annual capacity to around 5 million TEU.
The new cranes include 20 stacking gantry and eight ship-to-shore cranes. The latter are among the largest of their type in the world, with an outreach of 70 m (25 rows) and a safe working load of 65 tonnes, enabling them to service mega container ships easily and seamlessly.
The stacking gantry cranes can handle seven containers high and feature a unique eight-rope reeving system as well as built-in anti-sway and anti-skew features. These are designed to help the terminal operator achieve optimum levels of productivity.
Privately owned and operated, the 17.4 sqkm purpose-built King Abdullah Port on the Kingdom’s Red Sea coast and within close proximity of the King Abdullah Economic City and its Industrial Valley and the bonded zone, was ranked the second fastest growing port in the world in 2018 by marine data firm Alphaliner. Its throughput increased from 1.7 million TEU in 2017 to 2.3 million TEU last year, with a further significant growth rate anticipated for 2019 as well.
The port is making an increasingly important contribution to the Kingdom’s regional and global role in trade, logistics and shipping. Once fully built, King Abdullah Port will be able to handle 20 million TEU, 1.5 million CEU (Car Equivalent Unit) and 15 million tons of bulk cargo every year.
