KSCT ready for upswing in throughput

Container throughput at KSCT reached 3,600 teu in the first four months of 2007, with 1,200 teu of that total being handled in April. China Shipping Container Lines is the terminal’s single biggest customer, though Maersk Line has now joined the list of ocean carriers making use of it. The company loaded two shipments of bulk fertilisers stuffed into 20 ft containers early in the year, and from June will begin regular shipments of reefers. Reefer cargoes will be unloaded into the cold stores located in KSCT’s port/customs area.

To cope with the increase in throughput, KSCT has ordered three additional Linde reachstackers and ten new terminal tractors. It has prepared 2,600 sq m of covered storage area ready for new containerised cargo (including cocoa beans and other foodstuffs) that will begin arriving from June/July.

The Port of Klaipeda as a whole handled 6.32m tonnes of cargo in the first three months of 2007, an increase of 12.6% compared with the first quarter of 2006. Container handling increased by 32.8%, and by 44% in terms of tonnage. Ro-ro traffic grew by 20.7% year-on-year.