Malta Freeport has invested €24.5 million in four massive tandem cranes, boosting its efficiency and competitiveness, while becoming the first freeport in Europe to invest in such machinery.

Delivered from the leading heavy-duty equipment company Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co. Ltd (ZPMC), the cranes, technically known as super post-Panamax quayside cranes, are among the biggest in the world.

They have just arrived at the freeport after a two-month barge journey from Shanghai, China. Once they are fully commissioned at the end of August, Malta Freeport would be equipped with 23 quayside cranes – 19 super post-Panamax and four post-Panamax cranes.

The cranes will allow for new logistical opportunities and Malta Freeport is implementing all the necessary measures for the yard to be capable of effectively handling the output of the new addition to the equipment fleet.

Infrastructural work had to be undertaken at the north quay of Terminal Two, where the cranes have been set up.

Cranes of such magnitude were a crucial addition at Malta Freeport, considering that shipping lines are continuously investing heavily in bigger container vessels.

This phenomenon is having a direct influence on the development of cranes, since they need to have a much wider outreach.

Given that new vessels have higher container stacks above the deck, the cranes also require increased lifting height.

Since the privatisation of Malta Freeport in October 2004, the company has invested e92.3 million and is expected to invest an additional e145.5 million in the coming year.

Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt visited the Freeport yesterday, saying it was clear that the government did well to privatise Malta Freeport.

He said productivity at the freeport has nearly doubled since 2004, and container handling increased by 60 per cent.

The company also employed 254 new people in the last five years, and its workforce now stands at 1,237.

While competitor transhipment ports registered a drop in throughput levels of about 20 per cent, Malta Freeport has managed to maintain the same traffic volume as last year in the first half of 2009. Traffic volume throughout the rest of the year is expected to be similar to last year’s, or slightly less.

The company is expected to sustain its expansion programme to further raise performance levels, and it aims to exceed the three million container mark by 2011 (it reached the 2.33 million mark last year).