APM Terminal open for business in Virginia
APM Terminals North America officially opened on Friday its gleaming new container terminal in Portsmouth, Va.
The $450 million, 291-acre terminal has been handling some limited shipments since the summer to test operational capabilities and will gradually ramp up to full-scale operations in the coming months.
The new terminal is capable of handling 1 million TEUs per year, making it the third-biggest container terminal in the nation, according to APM, the terminal arm of Danish shipping and industrial conglomerate A.P. Moller Maersk. It can serve up to four vessels at once, is served by on-dock rail and will also handle breakbulk cargo.
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Container cranes arrived earlier at the APM Terminal, in Virginia, which opened Friday. |
The terminal is heavily dependent on high-tech features to improve efficiency, safety and security. It features the first remote-controlled cranes in the United States.
It has 12 inbound and outbound truck gates equipped with optical character recognition scanners and radio frequency identification readers to identify authorized trucks and direct them to the proper loading area. Overhead variable message screens at the gates and an on-line reservation system are also designed to keep truck traffic moving smoothly.
The company has minimized the use of diesel-powered equipment to reduce air pollution. The six super-post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes, 30 semi-automated rail-mounted gantry cranes, and two rubber-tire gantry cranes are all electric. More than sixty off-road vehicles have been equipped with cleaner-burning on-road engines and electric spreader bars on cranes reduce hydraulic spills.
(For an in-depth story about the new APM Terminal at the Port of Norfolk, see the August issue of American Shipper.)
