With this order including comprehensive services, TPS and ICTSI, a leading global port operator, are writing the next chapter in the history of their successful cooperation. Previously TPS has supplied 24 RTG to three different terminals operated by ICTSI in Madagascar, the Philippines and Brazil.

The new cranes are destined for the Basra Gateway Terminal in the port of Umm Qasr and will be handed over to ICTSI for commercial operation in the second quarter of 2016. As the only deep-water port in Iraq, the port on the Gulf coast is the main transshipment point for trade in the country. In April 2014, ICTSI signed a contract with the General Company for Ports of Iraq with the aim of taking over and gradually expanding container handling in Umm Qasr. “We are delighted to be part of the development and expansion of this major port by supplying our products, and to contribute to its competitiveness in this way”, explains Maurizio Altieri, General Manager of the TPS facility in Xiamen, where all five cranes are being manufactured.

The two all-electric and therefore eco-friendly ship-to-shore cranes are used predominantly for loading and unloading containers on feeder vessels. They are designed as monobox constructions fitted with a self-propelled trolley and offer a lifting capacity up to 41 t under spreader. The STS cranes are designed for an outreach of 42 m. The hoisting height is 32 m above the quayside and 18 m below. The three RTG are used for managing the container stackyard. They offer a maximum lifting capacity of 41 t under spreader and can stack standard containers 1?over?5 with a hoisting height of 18.1 m. Thanks to a span of 23.5 m they can cover six rows of containers and a lane for road or terminal trucks.

The tug is called “Elad”, it
is a sister-tug of the “Ilan 1” and is even more powerful and has, as appears from the results of its sea trials, bollard pull power of 75 tons. Additional mechanical and technological
improvements have been incorporated into the vessel.

The Tug is named after the late Elad Ram, the son of Atzmon Ram who was the Senior Tug Captain of Haifa Port, and who retired in 2000. Elad, an IDF fighter, was killed in 2006 during the Second Lebanon War.

The Tug entered the Port escorted by three of its sister-tugs who sounded their sirens and operated their water hoses in its honor as is customary in traditional maritime ceremonies. When the “Elad” becomes fully operational in about a month’s time, the Haifa Port Tug Fleet will enable giant ships to dock at the Carmel Terminal, speedily and safely, this following the recent period when the Port had been assisted in facilitating the docking in the Port of the giant ships of the major worldwide shipping alliance, the 2M, by a tug that is used for the docking of coal ships at the Hadera Power Station.

Mendy Zaltzman, the CEO of Haifa Port Company:

“This constitutes a very significant power addition to the Maritime Division of Haifa Port. I am grateful to all those who have helped us in bringing such an advanced and qualitative Tug to Haifa in a short period of time and with excellent timing from our point of view, coinciding with the start of operation of the 2M Line. We have foreseen the future and have made long term calculations, the result being that currently we are in possession of two big and powerful tugs for use with giant ships. A big vote of thanks to the Haifa Port procurement personnel, and to those in the Maritime Department, as well as to Omri Dagol and the people from Dockport Company who have been with us all the way”.

Tamir Michaeli, Haifa Port Senior pilot at Haifa Port: “One must understand that to bring in a giant ship of upwards of 120 thousand tons into a dock in Haifa Port requires Tugs with immense power. As we have expectations for the future we have succeeded in acquiring these powerful Tugs which enable all this to be done. When the task is to bring in such gigantic ships of such mass that they have no independent maneuvering capability, to obtain a Tug like the “Elad” which has arrived, this is great news”.

Omri Dagol, CEO of Dockport, the Project Management Company which oversaw the building of the Tug: “In conjunction with the Spanish shipyard Company Zamakona which has done exemplary work, we have made about 300 improvements in the Tug “Elad” as compared to its veteran sister-ship, the “Ilan”. The Elad is
also more powerful with an enhanced MAN Engine. We have increased the accessibility, operation and maintenance of the Tug, added compressors, and modified the structure of the funnels so that the Tug Skipper will have an improved angle of vision, and so forth”.

Part of MICT’s PhP5 billion expansion project, Yard 7 adds substantial capacity to the terminal now at 2.75 million TEUs from 2.5 million TEU. This not only addresses the current demand of shipping line clients and the port community for terminal services but also of anticipated
growth.

Photo shows ICTSI and government officials during ribbon-cutting ceremonies marking the start of operations of Yard 7 (from left): Juan Sta. Ana, Philippine Ports Authority general manager; Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras; Enrique K. Razon Jr., ICTSI chairman and president; Manila Vice Mayor Francisco Domagoso; and Christian R. Gonzalez, ICTSI senior vice
president and head of Asia Pacific Region and MICT. Behind them are two of the four RTGs.