Jan 22

BEST Raises its Game

Hutchison Ports BEST terminal in Barcelona has increased its ability to handle the world’s largest container ships by increasing the height of three ship-to-shore gantry cranes at the semi-automated terminal.

The move reflects current market trends towards an ever increasing number of 18,000+ TEU vessels with greater stack heights for containers loaded above deck.

BEST is the only terminal in the Mediterranean with 11 cranes capable of handling the largest ships in operation. Its operational capability has been further improved by increasing the height of three of the 11 cranes from 42 metres under spreader to 47 metres. The upgraded cranes allow BEST to accommodate container ships loaded with containers stowed up to 11-high on deck.

With this significant improvement, BEST continues to offer its customers the highest quality service coupled with some of the best productivity rates available anywhere in the world.

Commenting on the latest improvement, Guillermo Belcastro, BEST’s CEO, said:

“BEST has facilities to handle vessels of all sizes. It is the clear port-of-choice for the largest megaships and last year we had 139 calls by vessels of over 13,000 TEU. Having 11 cranes on the port and increasing the height of 3 of these cranes will give us greater flexibility to accommodate the largest ship size categories”.

“Thanks to this new investment BEST has strengthened its strategic position as the most efficient terminal in the Mediterranean, offering productivities by crane at over 40 mph in a sustained manner, which deliver significant savings to our customers”.

BEST guarantees a unique experience for all users of the terminal. It is able to offer fast and efficient loading and unloading of ships of all sizes thanks not only to the largest railway terminal in the Mediterranean, but also to its automated gate and yard systems which reduce the amount of time the haulers spend on the terminal.

HUTCHISON PORTS COMMITS TO SETTING SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS TO REACH NET-ZERO BY 2050

Hutchison Ports is officially committed to setting both near-term and net-zero targets in line with the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) net-zero standard. We aim to set ambitious emissions reduction targets in line with the latest climate science according to SBTi and reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

Recognising the risks and opportunities associated with climate change, Hutchison Ports is committed to developing a decarbonisation strategy across the Group. A net-zero strategic roadmap has been developed which takes into account the past emissions pattern, future plan on electrification of fleet, adoption of renewable energy and alternative fuel.

Through this commitment, Hutchison Ports also becomes part of the Business Ambition for 1.5°C and Race to Zero campaigns.

Click here to know more about SBTi.