Abu Dhabi Terminals receives five new ship-to-shore cranes at Khalifa Port

Machines will help container terminal to increase capacity to 5 million TEU by year-end

Cargo containers at Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi Terminals received new cranes that is expected to increase the capacity at Khalifa Port Container Terminal to 5 million TEUs by the end of 2020Show more

Abu Dhabi Terminals received five new cranes that are expected to increase the capacity at Khalifa Port Container Terminal to 5 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units) by the end of 2020.

“Abu Dhabi Terminals at Khalifa Port is well-positioned to complete its expansion in record time and ahead of schedule, validating our commitment to becoming one of the leading container terminal operators in the world,” said captain Mohamad Juma Al Shamisi, group chief executive of Abu Dhabi Ports and chairman of Abu Dhabi Terminals.

The five new ship-to-shore cranes each with a 73 metre reach and 52 metre height have a lifting capacity of 90 tonnes.

The cranes were bought from China-based Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Company and follow the recent arrival of a batch of automated stacking cranes, taking the total number of cranes at the terminal to 22.

Abu Dhabi Ports is undertaking Dh4 billion worth of projects at Khalifa Port, including a Dh1.6bn expansion at Abu Dhabi Terminals as well as a Dh2.2bn investment in the development of its South Quay and logistics facilities.

The projects are expected to expand the port's overall capacity and boost container capacity to 9 million TEUs over the next five years.

“Our current expansion project of Khalifa Port Container Terminal sets a new benchmark for container terminal expansion in the region,” said Ahmad Al Mutawa, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Terminals.

The final phase of expansion will see the terminal linked to the Etihad Rail network providing direct rail connections across the UAE and regionally.

The $7bn (Dh27.7bn) Khalifa Port, which opened in 2012, teamed up last year with Cosco Shipping Ports, the Hong Kong-listed unit of the world’s number three container shipping company China Cosco Shipping Corporation, to invest in and operate a terminal at the facility.