PATRICK Terminals has used the 20th anniversary celebration of automated straddle operations at Brisbane to announce the signing of a new 10-year strategic supply agreement with equipment company Kalmar.
The long-term agreement is said to strengthen Patrick’s position as key player in straddle operations and reinforce a partnership for ongoing investment in equipment and automation.
Patrick Terminals chief executive Michael Jovicic.
Image: David Sexton / DCN
Patrick Terminals chief executive Michael Jovicic told a gathering at Brisbane AutoStrad Terminal they were looking forward to continuing their close collaboration with Kalmar, “building on two decades of automation leadership, and delivering the next generation of performance improvements in straddle operations”.
Kalmar's head of global sales, horizontal transportation, Karri Keskinen, said Kalmar was "pleased to announce our shared commitment to pursure continuous improvement and operational excellent together with Patrick Terminals".
"This strategic partnership further strengthens opportunities to deliver efficient and competitive straddle solutions in the Oceania region," Mr Keskinen said.
Mr Jovicic reflected upon the vision of two decades ago when Chris Corrigan was still in charge of the business, supported by Maurice James and Matt Hollamby (who is still an integral figure).
“They had a vision at the time, and it was a bit of a dream… behind it was what I would call ‘the drive to get better’.
“It was a bit of science experiment, but it goes to our DNA where we are very customer-focused and differentiating ourselves, both on the ship side and the land side and this sort of innovation is at the core of that.”
Patrick Terminals Brisbane manager Matt Hollamby praised all those who had driven and supported the move to open “only the third automated terminal in the world (Rotterdam and Hamburg being the first two) and the first to use AutoStrad technology”.
“This technology was developed by Australians for Australian conditions, particularly the road transport industry,” Mr Hollamby said.
“Which, unlike many overseas ports, is characterised by the use of multigrid vehicles.”