THE Namibian Ports Authority (NamPort) Thursday closed a N$100 million deal to purchase six Rubber-Tyred Gantries – bridge-like cargo-moving cranes.
‘These big machines have never been seen in Namibia before,’ said NamPort’s CEO, Bisey Uirab.’This is a big achievement for us.’The RTGs are being bought from Kalmar Industries South Africa, and will be delivered to NamPort next year, where they will be assembled and then commissioned during the third quarter of 2010.Uirab said the RTGs would assist in taking the port of Walvis Bay to the next level of business development.’This is our commitment to increase our efficiency and productivity, and delivering excellent service to our port users,’ he said.An RTG crane system gives about 42 per cent more storage capacity with the same amount of floor space, helping NamPort to maximise its value with increasingly limited space in the port. The system also reduces costs by about 10 per cent compared to a conventional stacker system. Also, with a design that is ‘seven containers wide and five containers high’, RTGs will improve container-stacking capacity and also allow higher productivity levels in the terminal.At the moment, NamPort is making use of 18 ‘reach stackers’ (large forklifts designed to move containers), but according to Operations Executive Lumumba Kathindi, it will only need nine reach stackers with the purchase of the six new cranes.He also assured that the existing staff would be trained to operate and maintain the RTGs. Maintenance will be done on site with the assistance of a Kalmar technician.Uirab concluded that NamPort is renowned for its ‘diligent investment’ in infrastructure ahead of expected demand.’This philosophy has ensured that NamPort is able to position itself favourably in and increasingly competitive market by taking advantage of opportunities as they occur,’ he said.
