Songkhla Port Receives First Ship-to-Shore Container Cranes

Thailand’s Port of Songkhla has taken delivery of its first ship-to-shore container cranes as part of an expansion program aimed at tripling capacity at the southern port.

The two STS cranes were manufactured by China’s ZPMC and transported fully assembled from Shanghai aboard the deck cargo vessel New Global. Each crane features an outreach of 38 meters and a lifting height of 45.5 meters.

Songkhla previously operated without dedicated quay cranes, requiring regular container services calling at the port to use geared containerships equipped with their own cargo-handling equipment.

The arrival of the new cranes is being accompanied by dredging work designed to ensure the port maintains a minimum usable depth of nine meters at low tide throughout the year.

Chaophaya Terminal International operates Songkhla’s container terminal, which currently features a 510-meter pier and has a designed annual handling capacity of 150,000 teu. Under the latest investment program, capacity is expected to increase to 450,000 teu per year within the next five to six years.

According to Alphaliner, Songkhla currently has three regular container services connecting the port with Malaysia and Singapore. These comprise Maersk’s Malaysia-Thailand service, Regional Container Lines’ RSE service and Samudera Shipping’s BTS + SGX service.