Figure 1 : The movement of containers from ship to shore to storage yard and out of the port
Quay Crane Rubber Tired Gantry Crane Terminal Truck
Figure 2 : Typical port quay crane , rubber-tired gantry crane ( RTG ) and terminal truck
efficiency , often measured in terms of gantry crane moves per hour , ranked highly among the factors that determine ship calls as hub ports .
The performance standards often associated for a global hub and gateway terminals on mainline vessels are in the order of :
1 . a sustainable ship output of 5,000 moves per 24 hours ;
2 . a sustainable ship-to-shore gantry crane output of 40 moves per gross hour ; 3 . a ratio working time to time at berth of 90 %; 4 . an average number of gantries operating per main-line vessel of six ; and 5 . an annual throughput per berth of 1.5 million TEUs .
Such volumes pose huge demands on container crane density ( number of cranes per vessel ), yard equipment and the required stacking area 9 . However , there are a number of ports that are already operating beyond these standards , underlining the intense competition . The main point is , main shipping lines look for top level service productivity from top level container terminals that in turn dictates the Key Performance Indicators for port operation .
Selecting the right combination of container handling equipment for a port may be crucial . However , container handling equipment is already fairly standardised , and wide options are available to any container terminal . Figure 2 shows some examples .
In reality , equipment on their own may provide very little difference between one container port and another . Container handling equipment alone may not offer significant competitive edge among ports , especially those at the top of the global ranking . Furthermore , top ports are already expected to be well equipped with the best handling equipment .
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