Flinders Port Holdings will invest $350 million in the Flinders Adelaide Container Terminal, along with a further $40 million to upgrade plant over the next two years. The investment, which the company says marks the most significant spend at FPH’s Port Adelaide facilities since it purchased FACT in 2012, marks the beginning of FPH’s GatewaySA Program of Works.
FPH CEO Stewart Lammin said the program represented a major capital upgrade. “The FPH long-term Masterplan identified a need to perform a detailed assessment of the future operations for FACT,” Mr Lammin said. “As South Australia’s international trade gateway, we are committed to ensuring its long-term viability for the benefit of our customers and the local economy.”
FACT will remain operational throughout construction. “Communication, collaboration, careful staging and planning of these works will be key success factors,” Mr Lammin said. “The GatewaySA Team has established regular and consistent engagement with the teams at the terminal, the broader FPH business and key stakeholders including the transport industry.”
Multiple projects
The GatewaySA program covers multiple projects within the FACT precinct, including buying two new extra super-post-Panamax STS Cranes, which the company says will be the largest in Australia. FPH has signed contracts to buy the new cranes, which will have 65-tonne twin-lift capacity and are expected to arrive on site fully assembled in mid-2027.
There will also be a 135-metre berth extension. GatewaySA has engaged McConnell Dowell to deliver the extension of the quay-line, with mobilisation to site underway following a six-month Early Contractor Involvement planning and development period. Vessel operations will continue throughout the 18-month construction timeline.
The terminal will be able to service two 366-metre vessels simultaneously once the two cranes are in operation and when the berth extension is in service.
“This increased capacity will instil confidence for our shipping line customers and enable the terminal to handle the largest container vessels currently calling Australian ports, but also larger container vessels that will call in the future,” Mr Lammin said.
A new way of operating
Flinders has also awarded a tender for its Terminal Operating System, the software system that manages and optimises the movement of storage containers within a terminal, to Tata Consultancy Services. The upgraded TOS will perform vessel and yard planning, container tracking, resource allocation, data management and analytics.
Development works have also begun on land adjacent to the terminal, doubling the capacity of the Empty Container Depot, including full and empty reefer (refrigerated container) handling. The Empty Container Depot is an important link in the logistics chain, and this expansion will improve service levels for shipping lines, logistics providers, transport companies and import-export stakeholders.
Other projects within the the program are in the final stages of design works, with pricing, site investigations and enabling works underway.
FPH has also invested $40 million to upgrade plant, which includes 14 hybrid straddle carriers over the last three years. Over the past 12 months, FPH has bought three reach stackers and three empty container handlers.
FPH is developing palletised storage and handling facilities, such as dry and cold storage warehouses, which will be on FPH-owned land adjacent to the terminal, which the company says will reduce complexity and cost for customers.
“The proposed warehouse development forms part of FPH’s broader strategic objective to drive containerised trade-growth through Outer Harbor, enhance supply chain resilience for South Australian exporters, and attract new contestable freight flows,” the company said in a statement.
About Flinders Port Holdings
FPH owns and operates the container terminals at Adelaide, the port of Port Adelaide, and the six key regional ports of Port Giles, Port Lincoln, Wallaroo, Port Pirie, Klein Point and Thevenard. It also provides integrated supply chain solutions through Flinders Warehousing and Distribution. It delivers hydrographic survey services through HydroSurvey Australia. FPH has an annual turnover of more than $300 million and employs approximately 750 people. The company adds that it indirectly supports 24,000 jobs in South Australia and facilitates more than $25 billion in international trade annually.
