Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) has opened a $19m technical services centre at the Port of Melbourne, Australia to support its increase in ro-ro activity in the Oceania region. The company carries more than 100,000 cars, agricultural units and industrial units to and from Australia every year.
 
The Laverton North Technical Services Facility, on the western outskirts of Melbourne, offers a 8,500m2 workshop for processing vehicles and high-and-heavy ro-ro equipment. The workshop has access to dedicated recessed container docks for unpacking wheeled equipment and palletised cargo as well as offering gantry cranes for heavy lifting.
 
The 105,000m2 site also has a 75,000m2 sealed storage area.
 
Tony Paragalli, Vice President Logistics, Oceania, said: “The new technical services complex supports our goal of building facilities capable of meeting the future growth needs of our existing and new customers in Oceania. We also have the option of expanding the technical centre by a further 31,000m2.”
 
Other facilities at the centre include large drive-through paint booths capable of handling six trucks at a time, as well as quality inspection and service pits for the vehicles and ro-ro equipment.
 
It is situated 17km from Webb Dock (pictured), which WWL uses, and the company is using a number of 3PLs to move freight between the new complex and the dock. It is positioned just 1km from the Princess Freeway, a major transport route into South East Australia.
 
Last year WWL opened a technical services facility in Port Kembla, near Sydney, for construction equipment, heavy machinery and vehicles.
 
Image supplied courtesy of Port of Melbourne Corporation