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State-owned port operator Pelindo I has said it has increased spending by a factor of four this year, as it seeks to procure facilities to improve its performance, particularly loading times.

Harry Susanto, Pelindo I president director, said the firm had spent Rp 1.9 trillion ($220 million) on acquiring new port equipment, with the money sourced from a bank loan.

“In fact, the bank was available to provide more than Rp 2 trillion,” he said on Friday in Belawan port in Medan, North Sumatra.

“The bank really gave its full trust in the performance and prospects of Pelindo I, which has enabled our company to add port facilities for loading and unloading activities.”

The company on Friday took delivery of a number of pieces of machinery, namely four harbor mobile cranes from Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH, a German crane manufacturer, five ship-to-shore container cranes, five rubber tire cranes, 35 container trucks and buses and one tug boat.

The four mobile harbor cranes will be used at Belawan port and Dumai port in Riau, Harry said. Pelindo I operates ports in Aceh, North Sumatra and Riau.

The new equipment would help speed up the loading and unloading of cargo, he said, and would go a long way toward improving the operator’s performance for the benefit of its customers.

Pelindo I said it had worked on improving its human resources before acquiring the new machinery.

Some 143 people are employed as machinery operators with the firm, and a number were sent overseas to broaden their knowledge on the use and repair of the new equipment.

Harry said it was important that workers were provided with the right kind of training before they could be trusted to use the machinery in the field.

Meanwhile, Ramses P. Napitupulu, president director of Dwisaka Mas Indah, the Indonesian partner of the German manufacturer, said the cranes could be operated in most international seaports, as they were equipped with rubber tire wheels, making them easier to move to a desired harbor.

The mobile cranes could also be used to load and unload containers between barges and trucks in traditional ports, he said.

“Two types of harbor mobile cranes were handed over to Pelindo I today,” Ramses said.

“There were the HMC 400 and the HMC 400L,” he said.

Ramses added that after such productive cooperation with Pelindo I, Dwisaka Mas Indah hoped that it could continue to collaborate on other projects with the port operator..