By Jite Eriabie
ICTSI South Pacific International Container Terminal (SPICT) has commenced operations at the Lae Tidal Basin (LTB) in Lae, Papua New Guinea (PNG).
This is coming seven months after the terminal operator dumped the Lekki seaport project in Nigeria due to prolonged delays in its take off.
“The parties arrived at this decision following delays in the execution of the Lekki Port Project,” ICTSI said in a press release on May 26, 2017.
ICTSI first signed up for the Lekki project in 2012.
Shortly after announcing its withdrawal from Nigeria, SPICT, a subsidiary of ICTSI received an approval from Papua New Guinea to commence operation in the Oceania country.
As part of its concession agreement, SPICT will begin the transition by rolling out the terminal’s new operating system, Navis N4.
The system, the first of its kind in PNG, is expected to quickly streamline the flow of information at Lae’s international container terminal and increase seaside and landside productivity levels. ICTSI South Pacific’s investment in IT systems and infrastructure is expected to exceed PGK 3 million (around USD 930,000) this year, the terminal operator said.
As part of its operational ramp up, SPICT will be rolling out the system’s modules and orienting port users at Lae while handling all international cargo at the LTB and the dedicated second berth in Lae old wharf.
It is expected that a full suite of modules will be operational and ready in time for the arrival of SPICT’s mobile harbor cranes (MHCs) in April. The MHCs will further boost productivity levels at Lae and deliver improved vessel handling capabilities, according to the company.
“We believe that the benefits of automating processes and information flow will accrue to each and every one of the ports users very quickly. We anticipate further benefits from delivering the MHCs to the site and look forward to seeing a continuous improvement in operations at SPICT from the deployment of the TOS to achieving the first MHC move in the near term.” Christian Gonzalez, ICTSI head of Asia Pacific, commented.
In 2017, ICTSI signed a 25-year terminal operations agreement with state-owned PNG Ports Corp. Limited (PNGPCL), for the Port of Lae – the largest container handling facility in PNG.
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