ICTSI boosts handling capacity in Manila, Subic

MANILA, Philippines - Listed International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) has beefed up the capacities of its Manila International Container Terminal (MICT) and the Subic Bay International Terminal in response to growing container volumes coming in and out of Luzon.

The company has deployed four new generation reach stackers at ICTSI’s flagship MICT as well as the new container terminals 1 and 2 at the Subic Bay Freeport operated by subsidiaries Subic Bay International Terminal Corp. and ICTSI Subic Inc.

ICTSI purchasing director Antonio Coronel said the company is pleased with the new equipment and believes they will contribute to improved port operations in more ways than one.

“They don’t just provide highly productive and reliable equipment; they appreciate the dynamics of the business and as a result, can provide solutions that boost productivity yet reduce our costs of operation.  We have an ambitious development strategy to become one of the world’s leading port management companies and on the same global stage, Kalmar is clearly a trusted partner,” Coronel said.

MICT has an annual capacity of 4.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

The new reach stackers known as the Gloria or Generation G reach stackers are the first of their kind to operate in the Asia-Pacific region. It is supplied and manufactured by Kalmar, the port equipment and technology unit of Cargotec Oy of Finland.

This brought the total of mobile container handling equipment deployed at the MICT and Subic terminals at 27 making the largest in the Philippines to date.

Aside from exceptional performance, it offers three ECO driving modes, namely power, normal and economy, making it the most energy efficient reach stacker in the market today.  Gloria also sports an automatic stop-start function, which is responsible for reduced emissions and fuel efficiency of up to 10 percent.

For his part, Kalmar Asia sales director Björn Jonasson expressed his delight at ICTSI becoming “the first customer to specify Kalmar Gloria reach stackers in Asia and particularly so soon after their launch into the region.

“We have enjoyed considerable success in launching Gloria into other key territories and the product has now become the benchmark for reach stacker performance throughout the industry.”

ICTSI is the largest port operator in the Philippines and has a portfolio of 29 container terminal operations in 21 countries across six continents.