future locationof thePort of Port of Spain is
still undecided. So therewill benoextra
berthsormajor landdevelopment for the
timebeing.
But PPOShasbecomeaccomplishedat
making themost ofwhat they’vegot. The
demolitionof Shed9was agood starting
point formaximising thecurrent 151-hectare
footprint. It enableda significant increase in
annual container handlingcapacity, from
400,000TEUs to600,000TEUs. It immediately
gave thePort some room tobreatheand
afforded theadvantages that come from
simplybeingable tomove.
A further increase incapacitywill come
througha fully implementedCustoms
system, ASYCUDA,which should reduce
dwell timeof imports. Theadditionof a
scanner (seeSecurity section, page27)
shouldalso speedup the removal of
containers from thePort,whichwill add to
the improvedcapacity. Gill-Conlonestimates
that the latter initiativeswill allowat least
another 100,000TEUs topass through the
port per annum, bringing total capacity to
700,000TEUs.
To takeadvantageof this capacitywindfall,
newequipment andhighly-trainedpersonnel
areonhand. On theequipment side, 25new
tractor trucks arearriving in2015. ThePort is
also looking into the acquisitionof new
cranes, which is conditional on several
factors. Craneswithgreater height and
reach couldmake a real difference to
“Everythinghas tobedevelopedhand-in-hand.
If justoneaspectofoperations isn’t right, it
affectsoverallproductivity. Thefiguresprove
wearemoving in the rightdirection.”
TrudyGill-Conlon,Ag.CEOofPPOS
CEOPortof Portof Spain
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