Brisbane Thinks Outside The Box

摘要

Three years after Australian stevedore Patrick officially opened its innovative automated container terminal in Brisbane the facility is poised for further expansion.rnMost, if not all, of the early problems with the technology now appear to have been resolved, as the company readies itself to start full operations some time in the middle of this year at the new Berth 10 at Fisherman Islands.This will see the automated terminal operating across Berths 8 to 10, rather than 7 to 9.rnPatrick has purchased an additional four ESC350WA driverless straddle carriers from Finnish manufacturer Kalmar, bringing the number at the Brisbane container terminal to 27.rnWhen the terminal was officially launched in December 2005, three years after trials began at Fisherman Islands, only 18 Kalmar straddle carriers were in operation and some of these had been converted from manually operated machines.