Premium International Pvt Ltd Managing Director and CEO Prasantha Kularatna and Group General Manager Wesak Wijeratne handing over a replica key to Deputy Ports and Highways Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardana. SLPA Chairman Dr Priyath B. Wickrama, and SLPA Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola look on.

The Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) completed its Container Handling Equipment (CHE) Upgrade Project worth over 100 US $ dollars by receiving the final consignment of 50 yard tractors on Wednesday. The previous consignments consisted of ship-to-shore cranes and Rubber-Tyred-Gantry (RTG) cranes used for transferring containers between stacks in the yard.

The CHE upgrade project which was started in mid 2009 consisted of three phases. Under Phase I, the SLPA received three Ship-to-shore Cranes and six RTG cranes from Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., Ltd. (ZPMC) in China in April 2011. Under phase II, in November 2011, it received another three ship-to-shore Cranes and twenty four RTG Cranes from the same company in China and under phase III SLPA received fifty yard tractors from Terberg Tractors in Malaysia in December 2011. Almost all the Ship-to-shore Cranes and RTGs have now been deployed for operation in SLPA-controlled Jaye Container Terminal (JCT).

The Crane supplier, Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. Ltd. (ZPMC) in Shanghai, China is the world no. 1 manufacturer of port machinery which includes a wide range of equipment from container cranes and RTGs, to floating cranes, engineering vessels and large steel bridge structures.

According to a survey conducted by "World Cargo News" in England, ZPMC has had the largest order book for large container cranes throughout the last seven years. ZPMC is the world first designer and fabricator of dual-hoist quayside container cranes which can handle 40 ft. containers. The double trolley quayside container cranes fabricated by ZPMC are also becoming popular in most of the busiest ports in the world.

The yard tractor supplier, Terberg Tractors, Malaysia, build Terminal tractors and RoRo tractors tailored for the transport of trailers in ports, industry, logistics and distribution centres and tipper trucks tailored for ground and construction transport.

Terberg vehicles are operative in more than 80 countries in the world covering Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, China and Australia. Being active and innovative within this niche market, the company provides a very broad range of vehicles of superior quality and best value.

The SLPA CHE Upgrade Project culminated with the arrival of the consignment of Yard Tractors and in a special key handing over ceremony held at JCT, the milestone event was marked with the handing over of a key to Ports and Highways Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardana, in the presence of SLPA Chairman Dr. Priyath B. Wickrama, SLPA Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola and other SLPA officials. Premium International Pvt. Ltd., MD/CEO Prasantha Kularatna the exclusive local agent in Sri Lanka for Terberg Tractors, Malaysia, also participated.

Addressing the gathering SLPA Chairman said "The SLPA evolved its operational systems from time to time to suit handling requirements. Now our state-of-the-art computer system with DGPS and RFID usage is fully functional and operational. With this CHE upgrade, I am fully confident that the SLPA continues to be the benchmark for many container terminals in the world".

"Today, it is one of the most modern and organized ports in South Asia, with the latest equipment and a user-friendly state-of-the-art infrastructure for delivering fast, reliable and efficient world-class service" he said.
(FT-06012012)