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In October, Barcelona Europe South Terminal (BEST) achieved another milestone for the Port of Barcelona.

BEST serviced the MSC Livorno, a 14,000 TEU vessel with 8 ship-to-shore (STS) gantry cranes, the first time that a container terminal in Barcelona has operated such a high number of cranes simultaneously on a single vessel.

The MSC Livorno is 365 metres in length with a breadth of 51 metres spanning 20 rows of containers. A total of 1,471 containers were loaded and 2,080 were discharged.

Guillermo Belcastro, General Manager of BEST, said: “BEST is the only terminal in the Mediterranean area that features 11 ship-to-shore gantry cranes able to operate simultaneously on this kind of next generation container ship.”

BEST’s average gross crane rate (GCR) of 40 moves per hour is one of the highest productivity ratios in the Mediterranean. This extremely high level of crane productivity, together with the total number of available cranes, make it possible to achieve outstanding vessel performance rates up to 220 moves per hour, per vessel.

BEST also provides multimodal logistics solutions for its customers. One example was a recent project tailor-made for a customer that needed its containers in Madrid, 600 kilometres away, in less than 24 hours following their arrival by vessel in Barcelona. 

BEST has an eight-track railway facility, the biggest on-dock railway terminal of any port in the Mediterranean. The rail facilities currently serve a large hinterland within a 600 kilometre radius of Barcelona. The potential market for rail has expanded in recent years supporting the strategic objective of the Port of Barcelona to become the Mediterranean’s alternative access point for European markets.