The Davao Integrated Port Services and Stevedoring Corporation (DIPSSCOR), port services provider in Sasa Wharf in the Port of Davao in southern Philippines, and subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), recently increased the capacity of its reefer storage facility to address increasing trade of banana and other fruit cargo.
"The Philippines continues to be one of the leading exporters of bananas being the third largest banana exporter in the world and the leader in Asia. DIPSSCOR's container market share in the Port of Davao of 70 percent is largely a result of the expanding global banana trade," said Julien Domingo, DIPSSCOR general manager.
"Banana exports from the Philippines are mostly produced in Mindanao with Sasa Wharf as the key port handling the delicate commodity. Traders have been shifting the shipping of bananas from reefer ships to reefer containers, a more cost-efficient and safer way of transporting the fruit," he added.
From a previous capacity of 144 reefer containers, DIPSSCOR recently doubled this to 288 reefers. Three racks were constructed and installed with 48 plugs of 440 volts each complete with power supply stations. Reefers may be stacked up to four tiers, with each rack having six rows and two sides. The racks also have back-up 1.5MVA power generators and 1.5MVA step down transformers.
Reefer facility operations are automated using digital technology. Two 45-tonne-capacity reach stackers were recently purchased to complement the three rubber tired gantries increasing reefer container handling activities in the terminal. This is on top of the three rubber tired gantries that were commissioned last year when the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) turned over the operations of the Sasa Wharf reefer facility to DIPSSCOR. The RTGs, the first to be introduced in the port, were key in the safe handling of reefers and in optimising container yard space.
