Construction of a new megaport in Tuas, Singapore has started, with the country set to build the largest fully-automated terminal in the world by 2040.
The megaport looks to be twice the size of Ang Mo Kio, a residential area in North-Eastern Singapore with a total area of 13.94km2.
Group Chief Executive Officer of PSA International Tan Chong Meng said: “Tuas for us is an opportunity to reset.
We will give up all the city terminals, we will give up the Pasir Panjang terminals and concentrate our full efforts on making Tuas our successful future port.”
The new port will be capable of handling twice the amount of the total cargo that currently moves through Singapore.
Read the "Megaship Pressures on Port Electric and Data Infrastructure" for more information on the challenges associated with accomodating Megaship-sized vessels
The building of the port is a massive undertaking, involving the creation of 10 storey concrete blocks to act as caissons – large watertight chambers to hold back the waters – which take 21 days to build.
The caissons, which weigh 15,000 tonnes, are then hauled out to sea where they begin to form the outer wharf which will measure 8.6km.
The project also utilizes the world’s largest dredging machine, which is used to acquire reclamation clay and make the sea shipping channel 23 feet deeper than sea level – allowing the megaport to cater for the largest megaships available.
Using materials claimed for dredging for reclamation rather than importing sand has saved the project approximately one billion dollars.
Once built, the terminal will be operated by over 1000 AVGs and state of the art fully automated yard cranes – which will make it the largest fully automated terminal in the world.
PSA Corporation (PSA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to give students the chance to become involved in the development of the new Tuas port’s automated systems.
See ABB’s Eye on the Industry: Mega-Age Container Terminals for expert insight into what the future will hold for terminal operators around the globe
Video by CNA Insider
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