A project to accommodate larger ships at the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) at Australia's Port of Melbourne is on schedule to be operational by 2024, Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) confirmed in a recent press release.
Recently appointed VICT Chief Executive Officer Bruno Porchietto says that, upon completion, the AU$235 million (US$158.4 million) expansion will enable VICT to handle two 336-metre vessels simultaneously.
"Once the project is complete, our operations will expand from five quay cranes to eight, adding three new-generation cranes, 10 new automatic stacking cranes (ASC) and 50 per cent increased yard capacity," said Porchietto.
VICT will also be able to handle neo-Panamax vessels of up to 14,000 TEUs following the expansion.
The expansion is being delivered in two phases, the first of which is on track for completion in late 2023. Phase one will increase VICT's capacity by 25 per cent to 1.25 million TEUs and include two new quay cranes along with six new ASCs.
The third quay crane and the other four ASCs are part of phase two, which ICTSI said will be scheduled for completion in line with market demand.
The terminal expansion was planned by VICT's parent company ICTSI when it was awarded the concession for the terminal in 2014.
