PhilaPort received its first two super Post-Panamax cranes at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal after a 90-day journey from Shanghai, China. Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) created the cranes, which will be 13 feet taller than the neighboring Walt Whitman Bridge with its boom in the upwards position.
PhilaPort and Packer Avenue Marine Terminal’s operator “Astro Holdings”, purchased the cranes as part of Governor Tom Wolf’s $300 million Port Development Plan to increase cargo-handling capacity and efficiency. The new cranes will be able of discharging containers from ULCVs (Ultra Large Container Vessel) and have a cost of $12m each.
In 2016, Governor Wolf announced the $300 Port Development Plan, according to which, Astro Holdings whould purchase one crane, and undertake other planned improvements to the facility.
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Governor Tom Wolf, noted.
The arrival of the cranes is a perfect example of public/private investment into the State’s critical infrastructure. Every transportation professional knows how important speed to market is to logistics. These new cranes will ensure that we keep pace with other U.S. seaports and allow PhilaPort to load and discharge cargo with state-of-the-art equipment.
In the first quarter of 2019, PhilaPort will add another two cranes and Astro Holdings another one crane at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, increasing the number of cranes at Packer Avenue Marine Terminal to seven.
