Australia’s first fully automated container terminal, Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT), is expanding its equipment fleet, parent firm International Container Terminal Services Inc.’s (ICTSI) said on Monday, Aug. 21.
VICT purchased six new automated stacking cranes (ASC) for the Port of Melbourne as part of its ongoing expansion.
The new ASCs will operate on three new yard modules to increase the terminal’s yard capacity by 30 percent and its reefer capacity by 43 percent.
Furthermore, VICT is adding fifteen truck grids to the landside of the terminal to increase slot availability by 30 percent.
The port operator is also acquiring two new larger ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, bringing total STS fleet to seven.
The new cranes will have an outreach of 22 containers to enable the handling of up to 14,000-TEU capacity Neo-Panamax ships.
Add to that, the operator will extend the quay line by 71 meters to allow two 336-meter-long vessels to berth simultaneously.
VICT’s expansion is scheduled to be completed and operational by the start of 2024.
It will raise the port operator's annual throughput capacity by 250,000 TEUs to 1.25 million TEUs.
VICT, a fully-automated container terminal capable of servicing the largest existing and next-class vessels on trade, has been operating since 2017.