The $320 million project will double the annual throughput of the Virginia International Gateway container terminal.
The Virginia Port Authority said it has completed a $320 million expansion of the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) container terminal in Portsmouth. The expansion has doubled the annual throughput capacity of the terminal to 1.2 million container lifts per year.“The completion of the VIG expansion enables the port to move cargo more safely, efficiently and sustainably than ever before and cements Virginia’s position as home to a world-class port,”said Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
Work at the terminal included an 800-foot extension of its berth so that it can service as many as three ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs) simultaneously. In addition, 26 new rail-mounted gantry cranes have been added to support 13 new container stacks, creating more room to stack and sortcontainers. The new stacks complement 15 existing stacks, also served by RMGs.
In January, four new 170-foot-tall ship-to-shore cranes arrived at the terminal and the port said they will be able to service container vessels, regardless of their size, for decades to come.
The project is part of a $700 million project begun in February 2017 to expand the port’s two primary container terminals, VIG and Norfolk International Terminals. When completed next year, the port’s throughput capacity will be increased by 40%.
VIG was built by the Maersk subsidiary APM Terminals and opened in 2007 and leased to the Virginia Ports Authority in 2010. The terminal was sold by APMT in 2014 to its current owners, investment funds managed by Alinda Capital Partners and Universities Superannuation Scheme Ltd., a U.K. private-sector pension fund.
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Chris Dupin has written about trade and transportation and other business subjects for a variety of publications before joining American Shipper and Freightwaves.
