In a statement, ATI said it is deploying six more gantries, of which two would be ready to support cargo handling operations at Manila South Harbor upon assembly completion by May.
The port operator recently deployed an additional Liebherr quay crane at the gateway port, bringing the combined strength and synergy of its ship-to-shore cranes to nine.
ATI’s new quay crane — capable of handling post-panamax ships with its 60-ton twin-lift capacity and boom reach of 16 containers wide — was deployed at the newly rehabilitated Pier 3, which had been outfitted last year with extended crane rails and expanded back-up container storage areas.
The crane parts were delivered to Manila within six months through DP World, ATI’s strategic foreign shareholder.
Complemented by three quay cranes at Pier 3, six quay cranes at Pier 5, a growing fleet of modern rubber-tired gantries and other container handling equipment, Manila South Harbor is primed to handle more and bigger ships at faster vessel and truck turnaround time.
Alongside the acquisition of more equipment, ATI is likewise enhancing its yard footprint within the Manila South Harbor to better manage the flow of containers.
ATI chairman Rashed Ali Hassan Abdulla had said the company allotted P6.6 billion over the next three years, its most aggressive volume-driven investment program in over two decades “as we future-proof Manila South Harbor, our bullish Batangas Port and other port facilities.”
For this year alone, the company will spend at least P2.2 billion to ensure its vital economic assets within and outside Manila deliver efficient service with the expanding Philippine economy, Abdulla said.
Last year, the company had allotted P1.8 billon as capex.
Besides the Manila South Harbor, ATI also operates the Port of Batangas.
Last year, ATI’s net income slipped 29 percent to P1.2 billion from P1.71 billion in 2012 mostly because of a new accounting policy. Excluding the impact of such change, net income would have increased 1.1 percent to P1.7 billion.
ATI turned in P6.6 billion in revenues last year, up 5.6 percent from P6.22 billion the previous year.
