DP World Southampton Reaches New Heights As New Cranes Become Operational

The latest addition to DP World Southampton’s crane fleet became operational and serviced their first containership on Sunday 14 June 2009.

The two new super post-panamax cranes, each with an outreach of 22 containers wide, worked alongside their sister cranes (commissioned in July 2008) to service the 11,040 TEU CMA CGM Vela.  During the vessel’s visit, the cranes worked to exchange over 2,700 containers.

Talking about the new cranes, Campbell Mason, Managing Director, DP World Southampton, said:

“It is an exciting development for the terminal to have four super post-panamax cranes in operation and to see them all servicing one of today’s mega-vessels. The crane commissioning represents the latest phase of a planned multi-million pound investment programme to ensure that the terminal meets the ongoing industry trend toward larger vessels.  With four super post-panamax cranes we have the capability to handle the widest ships in operation today and are well prepared to meet the growing needs of our customers.”  

Notes to Editors

1. DP World Southampton is the UK's second largest container terminal.
2. DP World Southampton is a joint venture between DP World (51%) and Associated British Ports (49%).
3. 15 straddle carriers, combination of additional and replacement, have been commissioned into operation this year. 
4. In April 2009, the terminal upgraded and expanded its empty container handling fleet through the purchase of eight empty container handlers which can all stack eight containers high, increasing the terminal’s empty park capacity by more than 15%.
5. DP World is one of the largest marine terminal operators in the world, with 49 terminals and 12 new developments across 31 countries¹.
6. In 2008, DP World handled more than 46.8 million TEU across its portfolio – an increase of 8% on 2007.

¹ As of June 2009