BEST container terminal in the Port of Barcelona, received 6 new Automated Stacking Cranes (ASC) from the Finnish supplier Konecranes, thereby increasing its storage capacity from 24 to 27 automated blocks. Currently, these blocks are being assembled and tested and they are expected to be fully operational in June this year.

These cranes are electric and move on rails, like most of the terminal´s equipment, since Hutchison Ports has been committed since the beginning to build an efficient and environmentally sustainable terminal in the Port of Barcelona.

Guillermo Belcastro, Hutchison Ports BEST CEO has stated: “This investment will result in a significant increase in operational and storage capacity at the terminal and will contribute to our continuous improvement of service levels both in maritime and land operations.”

Currently, BEST has 11 Super Post-Panamax quay cranes that are able to operate the biggest vessels in the world, 48 ASCs, 2 Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes (RMGs) and 30 Shuttle Carriers to operate the terminal which occupies 80 hectares and has a 1,500 metres berth with a depth of 16.5 metre.

Since its official inauguration in September 2012, BEST has continued to set new standards for ports in Southern Europe: achieving a ship productivity rate of more than 200 movements per hour and a sustained average performance of more than 40 movements per hour and by crane, one of the highest in the world.

Hutchison Ports BEST is the first semi-automated terminal developed by Hutchison Ports. In addition to being the most technologically advanced project in Spain, the facilities have one of the most modern gate systems in Europe and one of the largest railway terminals within a container terminal in the Mediterranean, with eight mixed gauge tracks (Iberian and UIC), connecting BEST daily with different points of Spain and the South of France.

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