Conventional fuel YT 182/222
Terberg Benschop BV, international manufacturer of terminal, land and RoRo tractors based in Benschop, the Netherlands, is to supply 40 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) -powered tractors to Asyaport, the first transhipment container hub port of Turkey. Located in Barbaros, Tekirdag province, some 130 km west of Istanbul, the port will receive YT222 tractors with 170kW Mercedes engines that are powerful enough to handle two trailers carrying 20 foot containers (TEUs).
Asyaport chose LNG as a fuel for its environmental properties and price: it is much cheaper than diesel in Turkey. There is also an LNG filling station near the terminal.
Terberg’s Turkish distributor Portunus, based in Istanbul, will provide service and support. The port is expected to be completed late this year and delivery of the LNG tractors will begin in January 2015.
Asyaport’s new deep-water container terminal is strategically located as a transhipment hub for containers destined for the Black Sea via the Bosporus. It will handle vessels carrying up to 18,000 teu and will have an annual capacity of 1.9 million TEUs – twenty-foot equivalent unit, the standard industry measure for containers.
ASYAPORT funded by EBRD
The EBRD is providing a $92 million loan for AsyaPort as the country continues to improve its infrastructure to create the conditions for sustaining its strong economic growth. The Bank’s financing will be used to design, build, operate and maintain the new container terminal. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Turkiye Is Bankasi will contribute parallel loans, of $69 million and $106.6 million, respectively.
