“In March we handled 229,000 TEUs, which averages to 7,400 TEUS each day and that is a significant amount of volume on a day-in, day-out basis,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “We were 16 percent ahead (31,500 TEUs) of the same month last year.

“That amount of volume, some of which was carried over from February, presented a challenge to our team at every phase of the operation and it was most acute at Virginia International Gateway, where our operational consistency was overtaken by sheer TEU volume: our delivery of service at the VIG gate for the first three weeks of March was unacceptable.”

The record volume forced the port’s operations team to take a series of immediate measures to address the volume and restore operational tempo. The interim remedies included steps to reduce density in the stacks, a temporary embargo on empty containers arriving by rail, the addition of more cargo handling equipment and extended operating hours at the gates and did help to alleviate the congestion, Reinhart said.

In March the port’s total for truck moves was up 17 percent; rail containers, up 17 percent; Virginia Inland Port volume, up 3 percent; barge containers, down 6 percent; and vehicle units, up 148 percent. Thus far into the calendar year, the port’s TEU volume is up 10 percent compared with the same period last year.

“Our truck volumes did not let up any in March; we processed more than 81,400 truck moves despite the challenges,” Reinhart said. “We understand the hardship this period put on our motor carriers and customers and we are grateful for their patience through what has been a very difficult period.

“We are not expecting volumes to abate, so we will carry forward many of the steps we implemented in March to help alleviate the congestion. We are continuing to invest in equipment, technology, and people to create sustainability and improve the consistency in the port.”

The port will release its financial results for March during the week of April 13.

The cranes will be delivered to the PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya (TPS) at the end of 2016. When the cranes are in operation, a total of 7 Konecranes STS cranes and 16 Konecranes RTG cranes will be in operation at TPS.

PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya (TPS) is an important gateway to East Java. It has many shipping routes, and belongs to the Pendulum of the Archipelago, a central government project that is interlinking six major Indonesian seaports to form a single main sea corridor in the country. When operational, it is projected that the Pendulum of the Archipelago will cut the cost of domestic logistics by up to half.

The three Konecranes STS cranes on order are high-performance cranes with a lifting capacity of 60 tons and an outreach of 46 meters. The cranes will allow TPS to handle bigger vessels after the Surabaya West Access Channel improvement is complete.

“This order shows that Pelindo III believes in Konecranes’ technology and ability to deliver projects on time,” says Janne Eklund, Sales Manager APAC, Konecranes/Port Cranes. “We are currently delivering two large Automated Stacking Crane (ASC) systems to Pelindo III, one to Lamong Bay Terminal in Surabaya with inauguration this May, and another consisting of Automated RTGs to PT Terminal Petikemas Semarang (TPKS) in Central Java.”

Mr. Husein Latief, Director, Technology, Pelindo III, said: “We are deepening our cooperation with Konecranes as our container handling equipment supplier. We continue to see advantages in doing so, including in service support for our operations.”

Konecranes has a service contract with PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya (TPS).