The Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT), which operates in the East Port Said Harbour and has achieved a rise of 9% in container handling in 2013, plans to invest an additional $300m, Managing Director Klaus Laursen said. Laursen told Logistic that in 2013, there was an increase in the Terminal's throughput, which reached 3.12m TEUs compared to 2.86m in 2012. There has also been an increase of 15% in the number of vessels received by SCCT. The company also received and offered services to 2,355 vessels last year compared to 2,045 in 2012, Laursen said. "The results of 2013 are the second best results in terms of growth rate by the terminal, coming in second to those of 2011 during which the throughput reached 3.2m TEUs," Laursen had said when announcing SCCT results for 2013 in February. The SCCT, located in Port Said at the mouth of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean Sea, is a major transshipment hub for the Eastern Mediterranean region and gateway port for local Egyptian cargoes. SCCT opened in 2004 as a joint venture with APM Terminals as the majority shareholder and operator. SCCT handled a number of 15,500 TEU vessels, as it is the only terminal in Egypt that has the ability to receive and handle these types of container vessels. The terminal plans to raise its investments in Egypt from $300m to $1bn pending stability in the country, which has been experiencing political and economic tension over the past three years, Larsen said. The terminal has bought new modern equipment to enhance its capability to handle giant containerships. The SCCT finalised an agreement to buy two new quay cranes of the latest technology, specifically designed to handle containers on the newest generation of 18,000 TEU container vessels. It also acquired 43 trailers, 24 tractors, and 3 Reach Stackers with a total value of $35m. Laursen also stated that the geographical location of the Port Said Harbour, the northern pole of the aspired Suez Canal Development Project, will not only be beneficial to the the SCCT, but the Egyptian economy as a whole.
