APM Terminals has exercised an option for 22 Automated Rail Mounted Gantry Cranes (ARMGs) bringing its total order to 48 for APM’s Maasvlakte II terminal in Rotterdam.

The agreement with crane manufacturer Hans Kuenz and ABB of Sweden adds to the initial 2012 order of 26 ARMGs, with the first units delivered from March 2013. The new cranes will be delivered between March 2015 and mid-2016.

The cranes will improve the efficiency of yard operations at the terminal, which is due to open in November of this year. The terminal has been designed to move at least 55% of freight by low-carbon means, such as barge and rail, and as such has received a grant of $7.18m from the EU Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T).

“Exercising this order option is part of our original planning for the Maasvlakte II facility, and will bring us the yard capability for our 2.7m teu/year capacity and deliver the targeted service levels for our customers,” said APM Terminals Maasvlakte II md Frank Tazelaar.”