PSA Singapore has said it has received the first batch of double trolley quay cranes (DTQCs) for the Tuas Port, currently under construction and set to be the world’s largest fully automated port once completed.
In a statement, PSA Singapore said it was the first of six batches, each of which will consist of four units of DTQCs, which will be used in Phase 1 of the opening of Tuas Port. They arrived on 4 October.
PSA Singapore said the Tuas Equipment and Automation team worked closely with crane manufacturer ZPMC to ensure that the cranes were fabricated and built as designed.
Despite travel restrictions and interruptions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the team stayed resilient and agile, turning to alternative measures for the first time, such as engaging PSA-appointed resident inspectors in China and adopting remote factory acceptance test procedures to conduct the commissioning of cranes off-site.
Weighing over 2,300 tonnes each, the DTQCs are the largest and heaviest in Singapore. These latest additions to PSA Singapore’s suite of port equipment have a lifting height of 55 metres and 73 metres outreach.
Designed to meet the demands of larger vessels more efficiently, the DTQCs are able to move containers from a vessel to a coning platform, and thereafter onto Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs), in an automated and seamless manner.
This DTQCs delivery came after the Tuas terminal received its new Automated Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMG) and AGVs, which also arrived in batches earlier this year. Piece by piece, the Tuas Port is taking shape, on schedule for an ecosystem testing in the first quarter of 2021.
