This 13 April 2021, when receiving the ‘’ Gottwald 8412’’, the mobile crane on wheels, the container terminal of the Port of Kribi affirmed once again its competitive positon as the most attractive platform in the Central African sub-region especially.

The equipment concerned is a crane meant for vessel handling operations. With a lifting capacity of 100 tonnes and 41 tonnes on-board vessels, the new equipment can lift 2 twenty-feet containers simultaneously.

Its versality is an additional asset as the crane was built to operate on quays, on yards and even on the multipurpose terminal to handle bulk traffic of some tonnage.

As it strengthens a fleet already comprising of several STS cranes of 60 tonnes each, the ‘’Gottwald 8412’’ will significantly help reduce the vessel turn-around time by 30% to 35% by speeding up handling rates whose average stands currently around 22 to 25 movements per hour, which makes it the most competitive handling rate of the Atlantic side of the Gulf of Guinea.

The other expected advantage will undeniably be the improvement of the service quality provided to ship-owners and to economic operators of Cameroon and its hinterland. In addition to strengthening the Port’s competitiveness, this new acquisition will equally enable the Port of Kribi to meet the increasing volume needs in a satisfactory and sustainable way and to strengthen the confidence of maritime lines coming to Kribi.

Located in Mboro, 35 km from the city of Kribi and with a 15-meter depth, the Kribi deep-sea port can accommodate vessels up to 400 meters and carry 100,000 tons of products. Its enviable geostrategic position in the Gulf of Guinea has enabled it, since the launch of its operational activities in March 2018, to capture traffic flows from and to countries of the sub-region in general and landlocked countries in particular.

In its current phase, the Port has two terminals: a multipurpose terminal (265 meters) and a container terminal of 350 meters operated since July 2017 by the Kribi Conteneurs Terminal (KCT) consortium under concession. Phase 2 construction works that are underway will make it possible to double the Port’s current capacity. The acquisition of the new crane ‘’Gottwald 8412’’ falls within the common development objective of the Port Authority of Kribi and KCT and will be followed by a significant yard reinforcement with the upcoming arrival of RTG cranes.