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tate-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia III (Pelindo III) will purchase loading and unloading equipment for Teluk Lamong Terminal in Surabaya, East Java, after securing Rp 1.4 trillion (US$121 million) in loans from the London offices of Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

The purchase will include 10 ship-to-shore cranes and 20 automated stacking cranes manufactured by Finland-based Konecranes.

Pelindo III president director Djarwo Sujanto said the purchase of the high-tech equipment would be funded through a loan scheme from Finnvera, a Finnish insurance agency. '€œThe loan carries a 1.39 percent interest rate with a seven-year repayment term,'€ he said on Monday.

Djarwo added that Deutsche Bank and Pelindo III had signed the agreement at the end of August this year. Pelindo III and Konecranes agreed the purchase of the cranes in March. Konecranes will deliver the equipment to Indonesia in stages starting next year.

'€œTwenty-five units will be sent next year, while the remainder will be delivered to Indonesia after the development of Teluk Lamong Terminal has been completed,'€ he said.

Contacted separately, Pelindo III unit development and commercial director Husein Latief said the equipment used environmentally friendly technology that was in accordance with Pelindo III'€™s green port concept. '€œMost of the equipment is high-technology and electrically powered,'€ he said.

On the same day, PT Pelindo III also signed an agreement to buy eight container cranes and two ship unloaders worth a total of $68 million. The equipment will be used in Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya; Banjarmasin Port in South Kalimantan; Peti Kemas Terminal in Semarang, Central Java, and Teluk Lamong Terminal.

Teluk Lamong Terminal, the construction of which began in 2010, is a major project designed to expand the capacity of Tanjung Perak Port.

The terminal will be built in two phases. The first phase will include the development of a 38.8-hectare port, which will have 25,000 and 13,500 square meters of dock space. The second phase, to start in 2016, will include the development of a further 50 hectares.

The development of Teluk Lamong, which is expected to finish in 2030, is a part of the government'€™s program under the Masterplan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI). By developing the port, the government expects to reduce national logistics costs.

President director of PT Unicharm Indonesia Yoshihiro Miyabayashi said that the development of Teluk Lamong would lure foreign investors to East Java. He said the terminal, which will begin operations in 2014, would minimize the time needed by the company to supply goods to East Java, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

'€œWith the operation of Teluk Lamong Terminal next year, we hope that our sales will increase by 130 percent,'€ he said during the dedication of its new plant in Ngoro Industrial Park, Mojokerto, East Java. (tam)