STI San Antonio handles two NPX ships simultaneously

News 31 Dec 2023 by WCN Editorial

The 50:50 SAAM Ports/SSA Marine joint venture in Chile has welcomed NPX ships from Maersk and MSC at the same time

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With simultaneous calls by the vessels MAERSK ESSEN and MSC VALENTINA, both measuring 366m long, San Antonio Terminal Internacional (STI) has brought a challenging 2023 to a close.

This is only the second time in the port’s history that this type of operation has taken place. The record was sustained with the overnight arrival on 30 December of the MSC BIANCA (also 366M long), which will share the berth with the VALENTINA following ESSEN’s departure.

“We are the only terminal in Chile capable of serving two Neopanamax vessels at the same time, thanks to our 930m long wharf,” said STI’s general manager, Rodrigo Galleguillos. “This is a challenge that we can address with our new STS cranes, which let us operate at two sites with the same efficiency we’re used to.”

Attending the ESSEN and the VALENTINA, with 13,100 TEU and 16,616 TEU of capacity respectively, involved more than 5,500 movements for the terminal, demonstrating STI’s capacity for serving this type of vessel.

Galleguillos added that it has been a “complex year” for the industry, which has seen a drop in volumes due to less dynamic local and global economies. “Even so, STI continues to confirm its leadership as Chile’s main port terminal. Although much later than other years given the current conditions, we managed to transfer 1M TEU for the twelfth year in a row.” This figure was achieved while attending the ESSEN, which arrived on 26 December.

In 2022, STI “hit the 1M TEU mark” at the end of November and its throughput for calendar 2022 came to around 1.093M TEU, or almost two thirds of all container traffic in Chile’s largest general cargo port.

STI is in the last phase of the US$66M investment plan to boost handling capacity to 1.6M TEU.

SAAM Ports is now wholly-owned by Hapag-Lloyd Terminals.