The previous week four super-post Panamax container cranes were voyaged to Tacoma, Washington. In the meantime, four older STS cranes were removed at the Port of Seattle, a sign of the ever-increasing size of the modern container vessels.
Specifically, according to the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s statement, Tacoma’s new cranes have an outreach of 24 containers and a lift height of 165 feet above the pier deck, placing them among the largest on the West Coast.
They are similar to four others that arrived in Tacoma in 2018, and are capable of serving vessels up to 18,000 TEU. On March 5, they arrived at Husky Terminal aboard the heavy lift ship Zhen Hua 31.
Moreover, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, which is a partnered operation of the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, ordered the new cranes from Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd (ZPMC) in China through a competitive bid process.
The cranes will benefit the port, by improving the capacity of Husky Terminal on Tacoma’s General Central Peninsula. The latter, recently underwent improvement procedures that costed about $250 million.
In addition to the STS cranes, upgrades included strengthening and realigning a berth.
NWSA reported that the revamped terminal will be able to work two ULCVs at a time.
The new cranes’ arrival coincided with the final stages of the removal of three older cranes at the Port of Seattle’s terminal T-18 and another at terminal T-46. With larger container ships calling regularly, the 35-year-old cranes could no longer handle cargo efficiently from vessels.
