Egypt’s newly-built Damietta Port has taken delivery of five ship-to-shore (STS) cranes which will operate out of the Tahya Misr 1 Container Terminal as it prepares to begin operations.

The delivery brings the number of STS cranes at the port to 12.

Local media reports the STS cranes were manufactured by Chinese port equipment producer HHMC, and have a payload capacity of 75T and a 57.5m reach making them capable of handling vessels carrying up to 11 containers high.

The port says this increases its capacity to accommodate most global container vessels.

The STS cranes are equipped with safety sensors and cameras and enable real-time monitoring of operational activity providing valuable telemetrics to improve performance.

“This is a part of the super-structure work being carried out by Damietta Alliance company, the terminal's operator, in preparation for its imminent opening and operation,” Egypt’s Ministry to Transport says in a statement.

The Damietta Alliance is comprised of Germany’s Eurogate, Italy’s Contship and global shipping line Hapag-Lloyd.

Egypt’s Ministry of Transport has stated it wants the country to become a regional shipping and logistics hub and the development of Damietta Port is a part of the framework to achieve that.