PORT of Newcastle has, for the first time, used its two new mobile harbour cranes to load a containership.
Port of Newcastle bought the Liebherr LH 550 mobile harbour cranes in July this year. They were formally commissioned in late August.
The port has now officially used the cranes to load containers onto ANL Dhambi, a 1700-TEU containership.
Singapore-flagged ANL Dhambi arrived at the port’s Mayfield 4 berth on 10 November.
The cranes loaded the vessel with containerised cargo bound for Singapore. The cargo included aluminium, wheat, steel, meat and scrap metal.
Port of Newcastle’s announcement follows the passing of a bill through the lower and upper houses of New South Wales Parliament that would lift the cap on container throughput at Port of Newcastle.
“ANL Dhambi’s arrival coincided with the passing of the Port of Newcastle Extinguishment of Liability Bill in the NSW upper house, which will allow for the development of a Newcastle deepwater container terminal,” Port of Newcastle said.
“The port is currently investing $60 million to establish an expanded Multi-Purpose Cargo Handling Facility at its Mayfield 4 berth, which includes an additional 11,800 square metres of hardstand storage, road and service upgrades.”
Port of Newcastle said loading ANL Dhambi is a milestone in its agenda to diversify the port.
