ANOTHER shipment of rail-mounted gantries for the Melbourne Intermodal Terminal at Somerton arrived in Melbourne at the weekend, just as erection of the first two units was completed on-site.
The $400 million MIT is being developed by the Aware Super-backed Intermodal Terminal Company in two stages: the first phase involves delivery of the 15-hectare Inner Terminal which will initially be serviced by four RMGs. To accommodate future TEU growth at the MIT, the Inner Terminal has been designed to include a total of six of the cranes.
The first shipment of RMGs arrived at Melbourne’s Webb Dock on board the COSCO Shipping MPP Tian Wang Zhi Xing on 29 April. Installation of two of those has now been completed, with two more to be erected in coming weeks.
When the Outer Terminal (currently under construction) comes online, six RMGs will also ultimately service this facility. Initially, the Outer Terminal will be serviced by three RMCGs, which will be erected post the commissioning of the four Inner Terminal units.
Shun Fu at Webb Dock. Image: Dale Crisp
The second shipment was unloaded at AAT Webb Dock at the weekend from the recently completed Shun Fu, one of a class of general cargo vessels claimed to be the largest in the world and operated by COSCO Specialized Carriers. Shun Fu had previously discharged 34 x 81-metre Vestas wind turbine blades at Geelong.
MIT now has components of all seven of the RMGs on site at Somerton for the sequenced installation and commissioning program. As volumes grow, the total number of RMGs will be expanded to 12 – six Inner and six Outer.
Construction of Phase One of MIT (1 million TEU per annum) is now 90% complete, with operations due to begin in October. Phase Two will see that number doubled.
Last month ITC signed a nine-year contract with Aurizon for the handling of containerised freight.