Global Ports Group says it has commissioned two mobile harbour cranes Liebherr LHM550 at the group’s Far Eastern terminal Vostochnaya Stevedoring Company (VSC, located in the deep-water port of Vostochniy in Primorskiy krai, Russia). The new heavy-duty equipment supplements the operation of VCS’s five STS-cranes, enhancing the speed and efficiency of vessel handling and allowing for future an increase of berth annual capacity by 200,000 TEU.
The harbour cranes were custom-built for Global Ports in Germany and delivered pre-assembled to VSC by sea. The machines have a lifting capacity of 144 tonnes and can operate in three regimes: hook, spreader, and grab mode. Each crane has a maximum outreach of 54 metres, allowing it to handle vessels with up to 16 rows of containers. Similar equipment is already in use at Global Ports' Petrolesport terminal in St Petersburg.
In the first quarter of 2023, the container throughput of VSC increased by 17.3% compared to the first quarter of 2022 and amounted to 146 thousand TEUs. Global Ports is consistently implementing an investment programme to increase terminal capacity in the Far East. In 2023-2024 9 new RTG and RMG cranes by China's leading manufacturer ZPMC will join the fleet of VSC. This year, VSC has already received two new SANY reachstackers, and two more 'super heavy' loaders are expected to be delivered.
Besides that, from the second half of 2022 to May 2023, the Group has redistributed about thirty equipment units from North-West terminals to the Far East, including RTGs, straddle carriers, reachstackers and tractors.
In September 2022, Global Ports began an expansion project at VSC to develop the 47-hectare site adjacent to the terminal. Two container berths, storage areas and a new railway front are planned to be built on the area. The project will increase the throughput capacity of VSC from the current 700,000 TEU to 1.7 million TEU per year by the mid-2030s.