APM Terminals deepens investment at Algeciras, Apapa ports

As part of an ongoing programme of upgrading and expanding container handling capacities in its global terminal network, APM Terminals, the Danish terminal operator, has placed an order for 16 new advanced Rubber-Tire Gantry cranes (RTGs).

According to Tom Boyd, APM Terminals’ director, external communications, 12 of the high-performance RTGs are scheduled for delivery to APM Terminals Algeciras in Spain, while the remaining four are destined for APM Terminals in Nigeria, with delivery in one year. The new 16-wheeled RTGs are to be manufactured by Konecranes, and will offer a lifting capacity of 41 tons, with the ability to maneuvre containers into stacks five containers high.

The four RTGs ordered for APM Terminals Apapa, the busiest container terminal in West Africa, will bring the total fleet to 14 RTGs. The terminal, which has invested $220 million in Apapa since assuming the concession in 2006, also announced an expansion plan of $135 million in 2011.

APM Terminals Apapa is the largest container facility by capacity of the three ports serving Lagos, and this has doubled container volume in the past eight years and has dramatically improved productivity for Nigeria’s inbound containers.

APM Terminals also operates a second port facility in Nigeria as well, the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), located in the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone.