Second Commercial Vessel at New Hamad Port
Hamad Port welcomed its second commercial carrying the second shipment of cranes which includes four Ship to Shore (STS) Cranes and six Rubber Tyred Gantry (RTG) Cranes, says a report in the Gulf Times.
This, along with other key developments, is expected to help pave the way for the launch of “early operations” for certain types of vessels before the end of the current year, the statement noted.
Hamad Port had welcomed the first commercial vessel carrying the first shipment of cranes on July 19. The ship, heavy load carrier Zhen Hua 10, had arrived directly from China.
The arrival of third and final shipment of cranes is expected by the end of 2015, which will bring the total number of cranes at Hamad Port to eight STS cranes (with 100m high and weight over 1,200 tonnes), and 26 RTG cranes.
“With the completion of all marine infrastructure works, the installation of container handling equipment (STS and RTG cranes) will mark the accomplishment of another milestone in the construction of Hamad Port. This means the mega port will be ready for the early operation of certain types of vessels and shipments before the end of the current year,” the statement added, saying this reflected the efforts of the project management team and all stakeholders under the supervision of the Hamad Port Steering Committee.
The port basin is 4km long, 700m wide and 17m deep.
The new Hamad Port is expected to handle more than 6mn containers a year once all three phases of the project is completed, HE the Minister of Transport Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti had said during the arrival of the first vessel.
The port will be partially opened for specific types of ships and cargo ships by the year-end and fully operational in late 2016 to increase the capacity of Doha Port.