IN Brief:
- Asian Terminals and DP World have commissioned six ZPMC hybrid RTGs at Manila South Harbor.
- The delivery increases the RTG fleet to 29 and adds automated steering, anti-sway, truck-detection, and positioning functions.
- More electric container handlers and transfer vehicles are due before year-end as ATI continues its equipment transition.
Asian Terminals Inc. and DP World have commissioned six hybrid rubber-tyred gantry cranes at Manila South Harbor, taking the terminal’s RTG fleet to 29. Manufactured by ZPMC, the new units can stack containers six high and combine hybrid power with automatic steering, anti-sway control, truck detection, chassis positioning, and emergency-stop systems.
The cranes are designed for future conversion to fully electric operation, giving ATI and DP World a phased route from diesel equipment towards a lower-emission yard fleet. Hybrid propulsion reduces fuel consumption without immediately requiring every operating area to support full electric charging or conductor infrastructure, while the conversion capability leaves open a later move as the terminal’s power and charging systems develop.
RTGs sit between quay activity and landside transport, moving and stacking containers after discharge and before onward collection. Adding six machines increases the terminal’s ability to keep storage blocks fluid as volumes rise, but the benefit depends on how crane moves are coordinated with trucks, internal transfer vehicles, and vessel operations. Faster ship-to-shore handling simply moves congestion inland if the yard cannot clear boxes at a comparable rate.
The latest delivery follows a wider modernisation programme at South Harbor. ATI and DP World extended Pier 3 and added two new quay cranes in early 2025, lifting annual container-handling capacity from 1.45 million TEU in 2021 to two million TEU in 2025. The hybrid RTGs therefore add landside handling capacity after the earlier investment increased the amount of cargo the quay can process.
Digital and gate systems form the control layer around that equipment. ATI operates truck-marshalling areas, x-ray examination, reefer facilities, dangerous-cargo zones, and terminal-planning systems alongside its crane fleet. As more powered equipment enters service, yard planning has to sequence stack positions, truck arrivals, and equipment availability so that lower-emission machines are not left idling or repeatedly moving the same container.
Electrification is already extending beyond the RTGs. Fifteen fully electric internal transfer vehicles were introduced at South Harbor in 2025 with rapid-charging infrastructure, and ATI expects three electric empty-container handlers, two electric reach stackers, and another 15 electric internal transfer vehicles by the end of 2026. The result is a mixed fleet in transition rather than a single technology change, with charging, dispatch, and maintenance systems having to support several equipment types at the same time.
That transition creates practical maintenance and workforce requirements. Diesel, hybrid, and fully electric equipment bring different servicing, charging, battery, and diagnostic needs, while operators have to integrate new safety procedures without disrupting a terminal that runs continuously. The value of electrification therefore depends partly on whether maintenance capability and charging availability expand at the same pace as the equipment fleet.
South Harbor is one of the Philippines’ main international trade gateways, serving Metro Manila and nearby manufacturing and consumer markets. ATI provides 24-hour stevedoring and arrastre services alongside container freight, reefer, dangerous-goods, and truck-marshalling facilities. That mix means yard equipment must handle different cargo profiles while preserving predictable access for shipping lines and hauliers.
Batangas has also added direct intra-Asia container connectivity within ATI’s wider Philippine network, giving cargo owners another routing option outside Manila. South Harbor remains the denser operating environment, however, and the combination of higher quay capacity and a changing yard fleet makes it a more demanding test of how quickly lower-emission equipment can be introduced without sacrificing throughput.
For cargo owners, the practical output is container availability rather than the propulsion technology itself. Yard delays can create truck queues, missed collections, and longer dwell times even when a vessel operation has performed well. Additional RTGs increase the number of moves available to keep stacks accessible, while hybrid operation offers a way to reduce fuel dependence before the site is ready for a fully electric crane fleet.
The six new cranes will not determine South Harbor’s performance on their own, and ATI has not published measured fuel savings or truck-turnaround improvements from the new units. Their significance sits in the sequence of investment: quay capacity has expanded, hybrid yard cranes are now in service, and another tranche of electric equipment is due before year-end. The next useful evidence will be whether that combination raises yard productivity while the terminal continues reducing diesel use across its landside operation.
