A ship carrying six huge container cranes has arrived in the Fremantle Port. One crane is being offloaded at the Patrick terminal. The ship will leave Saturday 11/11/06.
7 November 2006
Fremantle Ports Chief Executive Officer Kerry Sanderson congratulated Patrick Terminals for its substantial capital investment and initiative in bringing a new quayside container crane to Fremantle Port.
Mrs Sanderson said Patrick’s contribution to the Fremantle Port infrastructure through its $9m investment demonstrated its commitment to servicing the new generation of larger container ships expected in Fremantle.
‘This very large crane is part of infrastructure upgrading to ensure that the Inner Harbour can cater for the increasingly larger container ships that we are seeing at Fremantle Port,’ Mrs Sanderson said.
She said an international drive to achieve better economies of scale and lower operating costs was resulting in a new generation of larger container ships being built.
‘In the past 13 years the average size of container ships berthing at Fremantle has grown by more than two-thirds—from 19,600 gross registered tons in 1992–93 to 33,000 in 2005–06.
‘Bigger ships carry more containers—the average standard container exchange per vessel 13 years ago was 337 whereas in 2005–06 it was 927, or almost three times the average in the early 1990s.’
Mrs Sanderson said the number of container ships visiting Fremantle Port had also increased by 40 per cent over the past 13 years.
‘With the bigger ships carrying more containers and more ship visits, container trade at Fremantle Port has grown on average by more than nine per cent a year and is now almost four times the level it was 15 years ago.’
The ship delivering the crane, the Zhen Hua 11, is one of a fleet of vessels owned by crane builder Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machine Company (ZPMC). The vessel will be carrying five other cranes for delivery in Brisbane and New Zealand.
The Zhen Hua 11 is a semi-submersible vessel that will sink to the level of the wharf at Berth 8 to discharge the crane and remain level with the wharf, using water as ballast, throughout the four-day operation.
When the ship is alongside, the cranes’ booms will jut out 90 metres from the wharf.
The crane positioned closest to the ship’s bridge will be rolled out onto the wharf using bridging mats. It will then be jacked up and towed out of the way of the ship.
The crane will operate from Berth 7, which has been strengthened.
The Zhen Hua 11 is due to leave the harbour at noon on Saturday 11 November 2006 (check shipping movements).
Notes
- Fremantle Port, comprising the Inner Harbour at Fremantle and the Outer Harbour at Kwinana, is WA’s biggest and busiest general cargo port. It handles 88 per cent by value of WA’s seaborne imports and 28 per cent by value of the State’s seaborne exports—more than $22.15 billion in trade annually. The Inner Harbour is WA’s only dedicated container port.
- Major container commodities imported are agricultural and industrial machinery, furniture, chemicals, iron and steel products, and paper, metal, plastic and rubber manufactured items. Major container exports are stock feed, waste paper, titanium dioxide, non-ferrous metals, fresh meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, grains and wool.
- Fremantle’s top overseas container trading partners are China (container trade increased by 19.5 per cent in 2005–06), Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, USA, South Korea, New Zealand and Taiwan; about 13 per cent of container trade is with other Australian ports.
- In 2005–06, there were 483 container vessel visits to Fremantle Port resulting in more than 456,000 TEUs being handled.
- A national referendum in Panama on 22 October 2006 resulted in voters backing their government’s US$5.2bn plan to construct a new channel and new locks to cope with the new generation of wider container vessels.
Media contact: Jeanette Murray 08 9430 3459 or 0417 918 724
Huge new Patrick crane for Fremantle Port
