The following release was published by Port of Itapoa:
Porto Itapoá will be the first port in South America to use remote controlled RTG (Rubber-Tired Gantry) cranes. This purchase of ten machines (at an investment of over 25 million dollars) will increase the operational flexibility of the Terminal. The first of them will be arriving in May, while the next is scheduled for November this year.
The machinery is remotely controlled, according to Sergni Pessoa Rosa Jr., the Director of Port Operations, Technology and the Environment for Porto Itapoá. “We are already training the operators who will be working with this machinery and preparing the room in which they will be working,” he told us. This technology will make it even safer and easier for workers at the Terminal.
The new RTG cranes can stack up to six containers. They are hybrid machines that use up to six times less fuel than a conventional diesel-powered RTG. In addition, Porto Itapoá has purchased a Portainer (a machine that transfers containers between the quay and the ship) with a 70m reach, worth 11 million USD. The Terminal already has six portainers, four with a 55m reach and two with a 65m reach.
Only 27 terminals throughout the world use remote controlled RTGs manufactured by the Chinese company ZPMC. “We have made some substantial investments in technology to make Porto Itapoá one of the most innovative on the continent,” explained Rosa Jr. He also referred to other recent purchases of machinery, such as the mobile scanner for inspecting containers, which was bought for around BRL 10 million. This equipment is the HCVM XT model, made by the British company Smiths Detection, and is the first of its kind in Brazil.
In 2022, Porto Itapoá purchased two new Reach Stacker forklifts to be used in the yard of the Terminal. These pieces of equipment, made by Kalmar, are capable of handling 45 metric tons and have an array of technical features to ensure operator safety. The port already had three similar pieces of equipment.
Another important acquisition was the nine terminal tractors (TTs) made by the Brazilian company, Rucker, which arrived in July 2022. The vehicles have joined our fleet of 40, and each of them can load 65 metric tons.
Source: Port of Itapoa