SCT doubles feeder business with new dedicated berth

SCT doubles feeder business with new dedicated berth Britain’s Southampton Container Terminals Ltd. has doubled its feeder business from four to eight weekly services since it developed Berth 203 into a dedicated feeder terminal with the purchase of a 100-ton mobile harbor crane at the beginning of last month.
   During November, Berth 203 handled 21 feeder vessels with about 2,500 boxes being moved across the quay by the crane.
   'We have provided this facility to encourage more feeder traffic to call at Southampton, so I’m naturally delighted to see 21 feeder vessels calling in one month,' said Neil Fletcher, SCT's operations development manager.
   'SCT's objective for 2007 is for feeder traffic to account for 10 percent of total throughput, so we will continue to work hard at attracting even more vessels, maximizing the use of the mobile harbor crane and increasing productivity,' he added.
   SCT is jointly owned by DP World (51 percent) and Associated British Ports (49 percent).