Following the recent completion of two new berths under its phase 2 expansions, the neighbouring Malaysian Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) has placed an order for three super post-panamax quayside cranes and 15 rubber tyred gantry cranes.

The order was placed with IMPSA (Malaysia) and represents the largest cranes PTP has ordered to date.

The three quayside cranes - capable of twin-lifting 40-ft containers up to a maximum load of 80 tonnes - will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2005 while the yard cranes will be delivered in the second quarter next year, according to a PTP statement.

Currently the two 19-metre draft berths - numbered 7 and 8 - are sharing three cranes from the adjacent Berth 6 which are equiped with articulated wheels and can be moved to the new berths when necessary.

PTP now has eight berths of 360 metres each totalling 2.88 km in length backed by a 110,000-TEU container yard. It also has 24 super post-panamax quayside cranes and 57 rubber tyred gantry cranes currently operational. The expansion brings PTP's annual capacity from 4.5 million TEUs to six million TEUs.
Six more berths under the RM1.2 billion (S$541.4 million) second phase are still to be built, with land reclamation completed, but PTP has said it will await market demand before proceeding further.