APMT Izmir facility receives new cranes

Situated along Turkey’s Aegean coast, the deep-water container terminal is preparing to receive its first vessel call in March 2016.    The APM Terminals Izmir facility took delivery of five rubber-tire gantry (RTG) cranes and two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes from Shanghai-based equipment manufacturer ZPMC in preparations to receive its first expected vessel call in March 2016.
   The container terminal will receive one additional STS crane and five additional RTG cranes, which are scheduled to arrive in December, APMT said.
   The STS cranes will have the capability to handle 16,000-TEU containerships, while the RTG cranes will be electric to minimize carbon dioxide emissions and ensure higher productivity.
   Operating under a 28-year concession agreement with Turkish petrochemical conglomerate Petkim, the 1.3 million-TEU deep-water terminal will feature 700 meters of quay and a depth of 16 meters during its first phase of development.
   In addition, the APMT Izmir facility will have the ability to expand to an annual throughput capacity of 4 million TEUs.
   The terminal, which is said to cost $400 million, will be the biggest container terminal in the Aegean Region and will contribute significantly towards accommodating Turkish export growth, APMT said.
   Turkey is currently Europe’s seventh-largest economy. The Turkish government announced plans to increase the country’s exports to $500 billion annually by 2023.
   “Turkey’s very ambitious plans to become one of the world’s ten largest economies will rely in part upon new and greater access to the global logistics chain, and the larger vessels serving world trade, and we are proud that APM Terminals Izmir will play a large role in that process” APMT Izmir Managing Director Mogens Wolf Larsen said in a statement.