Port of Newcastle and leading Caterpillar® dealer WesTrac marked a momentous occasion on Wednesday when the giant Norwegian vessel Hoegh Jeddah sailed into port.
The 200m roll on-roll off vessel was delivering two Cat machines destined for a WesTrac mining client in the Hunter Valley, one of which could be driven directly from the ship on to the wharf.
It is the third time this year a vessel of this type has entered the port and the first time WesTrac has taken delivery of Cat machines so close to its Tomago headquarters.
According to WesTrac General Manager Product Support Danielle Bull, such equipment typically had to be offloaded at Port Kembla in parts and transported to Tomago or nearby customer sites for assembly.
“Due to the size of the vessel, we were able to receive the Cat 775G Off Highway Truck already assembled and watch it roll directly out of the cargo hold,” Danielle said.
“The other machine, a Cat 994K Wheel Loader, is the largest of its kind and too big to fit fully assembled on any cargo carrier in the world today, but the fact we could take local delivery of it means the transport time is greatly reduced, which in turn means faster delivery to the customer site.”
For Port of Newcastle Senior Manager Business Development Matthew Swan, the delivery highlights the opportunities to utilise local port infrastructure.
Matthew says the ability of the port to handle such vessels, and the availability of supporting infrastructure such as portside storage, and access to national road and rail networks, provide a compelling proposition for industry across the region.
“Port of Newcastle is ideally located and equipped to assist companies in the region to reduce final leg transport costs,” he said.
“We’ve seen a range of mining and construction equipment delivered in this way during 2020 and we are optimistic of future growth across a whole range of industry sectors as local companies seek the time and cost advantages of bringing cargo right to their doorsteps.”
Danielle added that WesTrac is proud of the role it plays in supporting the Hunter region and will continue to look for ways to partner with local business to promote and grow local industry.
Spoke Corporate
simon @ spokecorporate [dot] com
(08) 6245 3121 | 0413 809 404
For more than 25 years WesTrac has set the benchmark in equipment management solutions, providing customers across Western Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory with unrivalled support in the mining and construction industries. As one of the largest authorised Cat equipment dealers in the world, WesTrac provides customers with a wide range of machinery and construction equipment as well as comprehensive whole-of-life management solutions designed to make owning and operating equipment as easy, profitable and safe as possible.
