International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) has announced that the project to accommodate larger ships at the Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) at the Port of Melbourne, Australia is on schedule to be operational by 2024.
Recently appointed VICT Chief Executive Officer, Bruno Porchietto, said that upon completion, the AUD235 million ($159 million) expansion will enable VICT to handle two 336-metre vessels simultaneously.
“Once the project is complete, our operations will expand from five quay cranes to eight, adding three new-generation cranes, 10 new automatic stacking cranes (ASC) and 50 per cent increased yard capacity,” stated Porchietto.
He added: “VICT will be able to handle neo-Panamax vessels of up to 14,000 TEU, providing shipping lines with the opportunity to leverage economies of scale and thereby reduce supply chain costs – something that isn’t available at the Port of Melbourne’s Swanson dock terminals.”
The expansion is being delivered in two phases, the first of which is on track for completion in late 2023.
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Phase 1 will increase VICT’s capacity by 25 per cent to 1.25 million TEU and include two new quay cranes along with six new ASCs.
The third quay crane and the other four ASCs are part of Phase 2, which will be scheduled for completion in line with market demand.
The terminal expansion was envisioned by VICT’s parent company, ICTSI, when the Philippine-based global port operator won the concession for the Melbourne-based terminal in 2014.
It forms a key part of the Port of Melbourne’s 2050 Port Development Strategy.
Porchietto was appointed CEO of VICT in February following a successful four-and-a-half-year stint as CEO of TecPlata, ICTSI’s business unit at the Port of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
He has more than 20 years of experience in Executive and CEO roles across eight countries and in blue chip multinationals such as Coca-Cola and Unilever.
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VICT has also publicly shared a AUD500 million ($338 million) plus expansion of Webb Dock that it believes would provide the lowest cost, most efficient and environmentally sustainable long-term solution for additional capacity at the Port of Melbourne.
ICTSI believes the proposal would be a key facilitator for the continued growth of the Victorian economy.
The global port operator engaged multiple firms to assess the merits of its proposal.
Jacobs Engineering undertook a detailed technical assessment that include estimated construction costs, while Boston Consulting Group focused on market and economic assessments.
ICTSI has already invested more than AUD700 million ($473 million) in VICT’s operations, making it one of the largest non-government infrastructure investors in Australia.
In February 2023, ICTSI outlined a proposal for the expansion of VICT.
