DP World Southampton has strengthened its straddle carrier fleet by taking delivery of nine brand new Kalmar machines at the weekend, with a further eight on order.  The terminal operator also announced today that it is purchasing two new super post-panamax quay cranes ready for delivery in 2018 which will improve the capability of DP World Southampton allowing it to simultaneously handle three of the largest container vessels afloat.    

The straddle carriers arrived fully assembled onboard the vessel MV EEndracht direct from the manufacturing plant in Gdynia, Poland. 

This investment in DP World Southampton’s operational fleet comes just after the operator took over an extra 11.2 acres of land at the north east edge of the terminal, creating extra ground space to store containers and bringing the size of the terminal to almost 100 hectares.

DP World’s investment plans for Southampton include a total of 17 new straddle carriers which will modernise the fleet and two new additional super post-panamax cranes with an outreach of 24 containers.  

Nick Loader, Chief Executive Officer, DP World Southampton, said: “We are committed to investing in our infrastructure and operational capabilities to ensure that Southampton can continue to meet the needs of our customers now and in the future.

“Container ships are getting bigger all the time.  The size of container ships importing and exporting goods around the world has nearly doubled in just under 10 years.  The world’s largest container ships regularly call at DP World Southampton including the MSC Diana at 19,462 TEU.  However, there are already 21,000 TEU vessels on order for delivery during 2017.” 

The straddle carriers are ‘three and four high’ machines and more than half will have twin lift capability, giving the terminal the advantage of having more machines that are able to undertake twin discharge from beneath the quay cranes.  

The new quay cranes will be taller and wider than the existing cranes on the quay.  At their highest point, these new cranes will stand at 138 metres (459 foot) tall – as tall as the London Eye.

The new straddle carriers will undergo necessary performance testing and some additional installation work before they enter operational service.