Gulftainer’s Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) on the UAE’s east coast in Sharjah welcomed two vessels recently and accomplished quick turnarounds.
The most recent to call was the biggest container ship ever to berth at the port, the 9,700 teu 350 metre-long CMA-CGM Orfeo, which arrived on September 10.
Earlier, on August 23, the terminal welcomed Hyundai Brave, an 8,600 teu, 339 metre-long, 99,000 dwt ship vessel which is the first of the new ships recently introduced by Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) into the French Asia Line (FAL) Europe/Asia service operated by CMA–CGM.
“We are delighted that this splendid new CMA–CGM ship the CMA–CGM Orfeo could berth on schedule (with no waiting) and depart on schedule,” said Gulftainer director and general manager Peter Richards
KCT volumes, already much higher in the first half of the year as a result of lines increasingly choosing to route cargo through the KCT gateway to the UAE, have been further boosted as congestion and slow working have affected other ports in the region, said Gulftainer commercial manager Keith Nuttal.
 Commenting on traffic through the terminal, Richards commented: “We have been pointing out for years that KCT was geographically ideally placed to save lines time and money, especially as the fast performance of the terminal would ensure that large expensive container ships would not spend much time berthing and working.
 “Containers for the UAE market have continued to move smoothly on our ‘minibridge’ to the Sharjah Inland Container Depot (SICD) allowing fast and early distribution to the UAE market – when most other gateways have been increasingly gridlocked with traffic.” Richards added that whilst other major terminals in the region were reeling under the impact of major congestion and experiencing several days’ delay in berthing, KCT continued to show the way as was the case with the quick handling of the CMA–CGM Orfeo   
A presentation was made to the ship’s master Capt Lukanowski by Khorfakkan terminal manager Capt Dag Froehmcke in the presence of CMA-CGM local office general manager Jamal Lasheen.
On receiving the other ship, the Hyundai Brave, Nuttal remarked: “As one of the giants of Korean and world business, Hyundai Merchant Marine is strongly represented in the Gulf region, and welcoming the Hyundai Brave was an important occasion for KCT, which had to ensure that operational performance was up to the usual high standards and that the ship was handled quickly and effectively to keep her on schedule.
“This was particularly important as the container shipping industry is currently concerned about rising levels of port congestion throughout the Middle East and globally.”
“As expected, KCT rose to the challenge, achieving the excellent productivity figures of 155 moves per hour, allowing the ship to depart on schedule for the Far East.
Commenting on the occasion, Richards said: “KCT has been busy in 2008, but thanks to the splendid performance of our staff at the terminal and the excellent co-operation of all our line customers and their agents, we have avoided congestion and are continuously achieving operational performances which are good by any standards. And the fact that we are able to maintain these standards at a time when there is concern about the ability of terminals in this region being able to cope with increased volumes is a particularly important accomplishment.”
Nuttall presented a memento to Hyundai Brave’s skipper I G Jong and the HMM regional representative J I Nam.