SNP’s 6+1 wide and 1-over-5 high units will come equipped with Kalmar’s container position verification system, Smartpath®, and will be delivered by May 2008.
Vu Kim Khanh, Deputy General Director of SNP, comments on the order: “Our past experience with Kalmar reachstackers and terminal tractors has been positive, and over the years we have established a good relationship with the local Kalmar dealer, who supports our operation with well-trained service technicians and spare parts.
“The investment in modern handling equipment with innovative design and low-maintenance features like Kalmar’s E-One RTG assures us that the Tan Cang-Cat Lai terminal will achieve its productivity goals in line with import/export container volumes, which are projected to increase by approximately 30 percent this year.”
SNP is boosting its equipment fleet to accommodate an expected growth in trade as a result of Vietnam’s new status as a member of the World Trade Organization, effective January 2007. Vietnam has the fastest growing economy in Asia after China.
The Tan Cang-Cat Lai facility is one of the biggest and most modern international container terminals in Vietnam and the only one in the area which is in compliance with the Master Seaport Development 2020 plan approved by the Prime Minister. The container terminal is also conveniently situated near industrial parks northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, which attracts and generates 80 percent of the country’s import and export business. In 2006, the Tan Cang-Cat Lai terminal handled 1.45 million TEU and is expected to handle 1.7 million TEU in 2007.
Saigon Newport Company operates four cargo handling facilities situated at the gateway of Ho Chi Minh City and in the heart of the south focal economic area of Vietnam, offering customers services such as warehousing, stevedoring, dredging and salvaging, and freight forwarding. The company handles 68 percent of the cargo in the Ho Chi Minh City area and approximately 40 percent of Vietnam’s total transshipment volumes.