At the Peruvian Port of Callao, which notably serves the capital city of Lima, the North Quay has begun trial operations of a new grain unloading system, which encompasses two high capacity continuous ship unloaders linked to an automated dispatch system. The terminal, which is under concession to APM Terminals Callao, is now claimed to be the fastest in South America using this type of operation.
Dwell times for vessels is expected to be significantly reduced as are loading and discharge times for HGVs.
In its pilot operation, a 77,000-tonne shipment was offloaded, which the terminal operating company believes to be the largest dry bulk consignment ever to be handled in Peru to date. In any event, it was much higher than the average consignment to pass through any Peruvian ports.
According to operations director of APM Terminals Callao, Javier Vidal, by having a greater volume, the terminal will also unload a greater quantity of grain in less time, thereby improving the overall efficiency of the operation.
The North Multipurpose nowadays handles 73% of the wheat, 100% of the barley and 54% of the corn consumed throughout Peru.