Buenaventura Expanding Port Operations, Books $28 Million Gantry Crane Order

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has been awarded a major port equipment order from long-standing customer Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Buenaventura S.A. (SPRBun) as they gear up for growth at their operations in Terminal Especializado de Contenedores de Buenaventura S.A. (TECSA) in Buenaventura, Valle de Cauca., 3 hours west of Cali. The delivery of all units scheduled to be completed by April 2016, with an order value of more than 25 million Euros, or approximately, $27.85 million USD. The delivery includes 14 Kalmar E-One² rubber-tire gantry cranes  and six Kalmar forklift trucks. The new equipment is set to compliment an existing fleet of 26 Kalmar Ottawa terminal tractors.

Mr Victor Julio Gonzalez, General Manager of SPRBun, commented “Our decision to work with Kalmar once again is due to a number of critical factors. The quality and design of the Kalmar E-One² RTG proved to be commercially very attractive to us, and throughout our long-term relationship Kalmar has always offered us the most efficient solutions as well as spare parts supply. As we continue to grow, the possibility of adding Kalmar process automation in the future will help us to maximize productivity in our terminal.”

Above photo: Kalmar gantry cranes operating at the SPRC  Container Terminal in Cartagena Columbia (courtesy of Kalmar)

Sociedad Portuaria Regional de Buenaventura S.A is the oldest cargo port in Colombia and the country’s main port on the Pacific Ocean with key focus of operations in container, automobile and bulk cargo handling. Handling a current annual volume of 380,000 TEUs (Twenty Foot Container Equivalent Units), throughput is expected to increase to 850,000 TEU by 2020 as they develop their domestic operations and enter the transshipment market.

Troy Thompson, Vice President, Ports and Terminals, Kalmar Americas, said: “It is particularly satisfying to have gained this major order that clearly underpins the longstanding partnership between SPRBun and Kalmar. We are committed to providing our customer with the best equipment and technology to deliver reliable performance, operational safety and optimum productivity at their terminal.”