On Saturday morning, May 13, three gantry cranes entered Prince Rupert Harbour, in Canada’s British Columbia, aboard the heavy load carrier ship Zhen Hua 25. The arrival of the cranes was realized under the ongoing expansion of Prince Rupert’s Fairview Container Terminal, a project which is due for completion in the third quarter of 2017.
According to Prince Rupert Authority, each crane is equipped with a horizontal reach of 25 containers and is capable of working the largest vessels in the world and are expected to further enhance Prince Rupert’s reputation as “big ship ready.”
The three Malacca-max dock gantry cranes were escorted by tugs from SAAM SMIT Towage, to help the ship execute a slow turn before berthing at Fairview Container Terminal.
The Port Authority patrol boat M.V. Charles Hays accompanied the Zhen Hua 25 from the Kinahan Islands, to ensure that any nearby watercraft maintain a safety perimeter of at least one nautical mile from the 50,000-tonne vessel. The offloading process is expected to take several days.
When the expansion project is complete, the capacity of Fairview Terminal will increase by half-a-million TEUs, boosting its total capacity from 850,000 to 1.35 million TEUs.
