The US $1.5bn Tema Port expansion project in Ghana has received the second batch of gantry cranes under the Meridian Ports and Services Limited (MPS).
The Chief Executive Officer of MPS, Mr. Mohammed Samara confirmed the reports and said that the process of testing of the cranes have already begun. He further added that by the end of February, the cranes would be commissioned and handed over in batches to the Business Transition Team through the coming months. Tema port expansion project begun in 2016.
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Tema Port gantry cranes
The cranes are under a purchase agreement between Shanghai Shenhua Heavy Industry Co. (ZPMC) and Super Post Panamax. Out of the 27 cranes, seven are a Ship-To-Shore gantry cranes (STS) on the water front and 20 are an Electric Rubber Tyre Gantry cranes (eRTG) in the yard. The craters are designed in an ergonomically friendly manner in that work is made easy and comfortable.
The craters have an outreach of 65 meter and are capable of handling up to 23 rows and 10 on deck on the board vessels. The ERTGs can stack seven meter wide containers and one over five high in the container yards. ”The cranes are built with the highest technology and the most superior quality and specification.” Mr. Samara added.
The Head of Transition, Mr. Cyrille Lemee said that operators will be trained after the commissioning of the cranes. “After the commissioning, there will an integrated testing that will run for six weeks from the end of March. This will be followed by a four week intensified Simulation and Training.” He added.
During the intensified Simulation and Training, a test vessel would be operated. All these will be by the beginning of June. Once that is complete, a three week full terminal testing that include a gate in and a gate out where Go/No-GO tests would be conducted.
Once completed, the port will handle up to 3.5 million TEUs increasing Ghana’s container handling facility and attracting bigger vessels from the shipping lines.
