ICTSI brings heavy lift equipment to Tacloban

The MHC, manufactured by Gottwald of Germany, is a key equipment in the loading and offloading of containers that also provides much needed capacity for project cargo up to 100 tons.  It is one of two that have been delivered to Hijo International Port, an ICTSI subsidiary in Davao del Norte.  ICTSI decided to send one to Tacloban to speed up port operations, in particular the delivery of relief supplies.  With the MHC, ICTSI has deployed equipment worth over US$5 million to Tacloban.  The MHC was delivered on board the MV Gloria, a vessel from Hamburg shipping firm, SAL-Heavylift GmbH, which had an all-Filipino crew.  SAL generously provided the passage from Davao to Tacloban free of charge.  Stinis of Holland also donated two spreaders that would be used by the MHC.  Despite the difficulty and risk of transporting the MHC from Davao to Tacloban because of the shallow drafts along the route and of Tacloban port itself, engineers from ICTSI, Gottwald and SAL worked round the clock to find solutions that would enable to give MV Gloria safe passage to Tacloban.  Photo shows the MHC’s first lift, a forty foot container, at the Tacloban port.  This is the first time in the port’s history that a proper container crane is in place.