Average waiting time at the terminal has been cut from 38 minutes to four, which enables vessels to continue their onward journey much sooner, with numerous associated cost savings, said the APMT statement.

It goes on to say that its "lean" methodology is being adopted across all of the company's terminals around the world.

This includes a transformation team at APMT Gothenburg being sent in to identify the root cause of the time delay ?more often than not inaccurate information provided to the crew.

Consequently, the team has implemented a revised process to ensure that the information sent out to each vessel call is clear, accurate and standardised.

APMT Gothenburg's chief operating officer Magnus Lundberg hailed the initiative: "I'm proud to see our team's strong focus on the customer as well as on operational efficiency.

"Our local improvement cycles are based on the 'lean methodology' and have brought new knowledge and developed solutions that reduce crane waiting time at the lashing start-ups," Mr Lundberg said.

Crews now commence unlashing in the order and sequence required to optimise operations. This sequence is determined by a number of factors, such as container weight, optimal position in the yard or stack and where the cargo will be loaded and offloaded next.

APMT Gothenburg is the largest container port in Scandinavia and is the only one in Sweden capable of handling 19,000-TEU vessels.