International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Monday the expansion of its container terminal in Australia to handle larger ships is on schedule to be operational by 2024.
Recently-appointed Victoria International Container Terminal chief executive Bruno Porchietto said that upon completion, the Au$235-million expansion would enable VICT to handle two 336-meter vessels simultaneously.
“Once the project is complete, our operations will expand from five quay cranes to eight, adding three new-generation cranes, 10 new automatic stacking cranes and 50-percent increased yard capacity,” said Porchietto.
“VICT will be able to handle neo-Panamax vessels of up to 14,000 TEUs, providing shipping lines with the opportunity to leverage economies of scale and thereby reduce supply chain costs—something that isn’t available at the Port of Melbourne’s Swanson dock terminals,” he said.
The expansion is being delivered in two phases, with the first on track for completion by late 2023. Phase 1 will increase VICT’s capacity by 25 percent to 1.25 million TEUs and include two new quay cranes along with six new ASCs.
The third quay crane and the other four ASCs are part of Phase 2, which is scheduled for completion in line with market demand.
ICTSI envisioned the terminal expansion when the Philippines-based global port operator won the concession for the Melbourne-based terminal in 2014. It forms a key part of the Port of Melbourne’s 2050 Port Development Strategy.
Under a separate proposal from ICTSI, the business has publicly shared a Au$500 million-plus expansion of Webb Dock that it believes would provide the lowest cost, most efficient and environmentally-sustainable long-term solution for additional capacity at the Port of Melbourne.
ICTSI said it believes the proposal would be a key facilitator for the continued growth of the Victorian economy.
The global port operator engaged multiple firms to assess the merits of its proposal. Jacobs Engineering undertook a detailed technical assessment that include estimated construction costs, while Boston Consulting Group focused on market and economic assessments.
ICTSI invested more than Au$700 million in VICT’s operations, making it one of the largest non-government infrastructure investors in Australia.
The company’s portfolio of terminals and projects are located in developed and emerging market economies in the Asia Pacific, the Americas, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.