MANILA, Philippines — Port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) is set to finish the first phase of a P9 billion expansion for its Australian operations this month.
The Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) is working on completing Phase 3A of the expansion program for the Port of Melbourne in Australia within the year.
VICT, ICTSI’s concessionaire operating in Australia, is spending 235 million Australian dollars, or around P8.6 billion, to increase the capacity and upgrade the services of the port.
Phase 3A seeks to scale up the terminal capacity by 30 percent to 1.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and widen the quay by 71 meters to 735 meters.
This would enable VICT to facilitate two 366-meter vessels simultaneously.
Likewise, Phase 3A extends the landside area of VICT, adding three storage blocks and 15 truck lanes, improving its booking time and slot availability by up to 30 percent per hour starting next year.
VICT also purchased two ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, six auto container cranes (ACC) and six auto stacking cranes (ASC) as part of the first phase of the expansion program.
VICT started operating the ACCs and ASCs since August to support the increasing demand, and plans to deploy the STS cranes before the end of the year.
On the other hand, Phase 3B covers the acquisition of new equipment, particularly an STS crane, three ACCs and four ASCs, and the construction of an additional two storage blocks.
VICT CEO Bruno Porchietto said the expansion of the terminal would enable it to serve large-sized ships moving forward, particularly the Neo-Panamax vessels that carry up to 14,000 TEU.
Porchietto said port operator is investing in upskilling efforts to help employees keep up with the latest standards at work.
He added that VICT is prepared to accommodate the recovery of logistics demand in the pandemic aftermath.
“The project is a substantial leap forward for VICT [since] it will redefine the container terminal landscape at the Port of Melbourne and set new industry standards for operational efficiency and capacity,” Porchietto said.
ICTSI, VICT’s parent, serves as one of the largest port operators worldwide in the 50,000 to 3.5 million TEU a year range, handling facilities in six continents with intent to add more down the line.