Manila South Harbor Boosts Cargo Capacity with New Cranes

MANILA, Philippines — Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. (ATI) has brought in more rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes into the Manila South Harbor, building on recent projects to scale up capacity. ATI yesterday said it has commissioned six new RTG cranes for the Manila South Harbor, as the port pushes on with its equipment and infrastructure upgrade for added capacity. ATI said the cranes employ a hybrid technology that cuts fuel consumption and mitigates carbon emission, enabling the Manila South Harbor to partly reduce its operational costs. Further, the cranes come with some of the latest operating features on automatic gantry steering, emergency stop systems, anti-sway technology and truck detection. Apart from this, they can be converted to full electric operations in the future. The cranes can stack up to six containers at the same time. The Manila South Harbor is now running with a fleet of 29 cranes, allowing it to handle more cargo faster. The acquisition of new cranes aligns with ATI and its foreign partner DP World’s vision to raise the Manila South Harbor’s capacity for future demand. In 2025, the partners inaugurated Pier 3’s expansion, equipped with two new quay cranes, which are some of the largest in the Philippines. As a whole, ATI made investments in the Manila South Harbor that elevated its annual capacity by 38 percent to two million TEUs as of 2025, from 1.45 million TEUs in 2021. ATI director William Khoury said stakeholders can expect the company to keep on placing fresh capital on the Manila South Harbor. He also underscored ATI’s commitment to completing new facilities and purchasing additional equipment to help Philippine logistics recover. Likewise, Khoury said ATI is serious in transitioning ports to greener infrastructure. The Manila South Harbor, for instance, added 15 electric internal transfer vehicles to its fleet in 2025. For 2026, ATI will augment the Manila South Harbor’s fleet with three electric empty container handlers, two electric reach stackers and 15 more electric internal transfer vehicles. ATI is one of the country’s largest port developers, with concessions in Manila, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and South Cotabato.