La Spezia Container Terminal (LSCT) is pleased to confirm to all valued customers the completion of the latest stage of the upgrade to shore-side equipment, with the return to service of former crane No.1, now finally deployed on Fornelli West as a revamped 20 row unit.
These latest moves complete an extensive project – originally started in 2010 – with a total of seven cranes having been revamped in just under five years and two brand-new 23 rows across cranes arriving from China earlier in the year. Total investment on equipment upgrades has been substantial , with more than € 23 million having been committed to ensure service to the increasing number of larger ships being deployed in customer networks.
As of now, the current layout of the terminal is such that Fornelli East is equipped with two 23 rows across cranes plus three 20 rows across. On the West side, four 20 rows across cranes alongside two 18 rows across, for a gross total of 11 ship to shore cranes at customer disposal.
Paolo Mussi – LSCT technical department director – was interviewed as he witnessed the final operations taking place “... As I look back, like in any engineering challenge, we had to overcome a series of difficulties linked to various technical aspects involving transportation, terminal operations flow, and many other. All of them we overcame successfully, with all departments and suppliers involved working in synergy with each other, the objective being not to jeopardize the most important aspect – service to customers. Now the package is complete with the new-buildings sided by the fully operational ‘re-born’.”
Both sides of the Fornelli berth are capable of operating simultaneously a ULCC ship in the 14,000 TEUs range – a feature which is unique to the La Spezia System amongst Italian gateway ports – and with East capable of operating ships in excess of 16,000 TEUs in nominal capacity.
