OREANDA-NEWS. APM Terminals placed an order for 16 new advanced Rubber-Tire Gantry cranes (RTGs) as part of an ongoing program of upgrading and expanding container handling capabilities and capacities throughout the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network. Twelve of the high-performance RTGs are scheduled for delivery to APM Terminals Algeciras, in Spain, while the remaining four are destined for APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria, with delivery in one year.

The new 16-wheeled RTGs, to be manufactured by Konecranes, will offer a lifting capacity of 41 tons, and the ability to maneuver containers into stacks five containers high.

APM Terminals Algeciras, the largest container terminal in the Western Mediterranean market, has recently completed upgrading cranes and quay infrastructure to accommodate Ultra-Large Container Ships (ULCS) of 18,000+ TEU capacity, some of which now call the terminal weekly. In addition to heightening four existing cranes in 2014, four new Ship-to-Shore (STS) gantry cranes were delivered last May. The Port of Algeciras, located at the Gibraltar Strait, is the largest in Spain, having surpassed Valencia in 2013, and is the 28th busiest globally. APM Terminals Algeciras was ranked fifth among European container terminals for the first half of 2014 by the JOC Group Productivity Study, with 81 crane moves per hour with a vessel alongside.

The four RTGs ordered for APM Terminals Apapa, the busiest container terminal in West Africa, will bring the total fleet to 14 RTGs. A USD 135 million investment and expansion program was announced for APM Terminals Apapa in 2011. APM Terminals has invested USD 220 million in Apapa since assuming the concession in 2006 and has significantly improved terminal productivity. APM Terminals Apapa is the largest container facility by capacity of the three ports serving Lagos, Nigeria's largest city and business center. APM Terminals Apapa 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. So-called West Africa Maximum (WAF-Max) vessels of 4,500 TEU capacity have begun to call WACT, where APM Terminals has committed to an investment of USD 125 million for port modernization and upgrades. The proposed new mega-port at Badagry, located 55 km west of Lagos, continues to move toward development and will serve all cargo sectors, with a planned 2019 Phase I opening of a 775-meter two-berth container terminal, with a 17.0 meter depth alongside and an annual throughput capacity of 1.8 million TEUs.