Containers a top priority for Vladivostok

Container handling, which reached 456,146 teu last year, is a top priority for the port, which has started a project to integrate and expand the resources of several terminals for handling boxes.

Two Liebherr ship-to-shore gantry cranes were put into operation, increasing capacity at the Vladivostok Container Terminal.

Meanwhile, the port is also focusing on cars and heavy duty vehicles. Additional storage space for import cars and wheeled and tracked vehicles was put into operation at the beginning of this year, so that the total area of open storage at the dedicated car terminal is now about one hectare.

In 2012, the port handled 76,560 import cars and vehicles, an increase of 16% compared with 2011.

Numbers are due to rise with the opening of a new Toyota Land Cruiser ‘Prado’ plant at Vladivostok by Sollers-Bussan, a joint venture between Mitsui and the Russian car manufacturer OJSC Sollers.

The vehicles will be assembled at the plant with the technical assistance of Toyota, delivered and stored at the port, and supplied to the Russian market mainly via the Siberian Railway.

The first phase will produce around 1,000 units a month, with production to rise to 25,000 vehicles a year.

“For many years the Commercial Port of Vladivostok has been involved in handling both new and used vehicles. Our dedicated automobile terminal is capable of handling up to 150,000 vehicles per annum,” says port spokesman Alexey Dovbysh. “New foreign cars handling is one of the top priorities for the port.”