Giant electric cranes will enable a US port to handle two ultra-large ships simultaneously.
Four new emission-free electric cranes have been delivered to the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore’s Seagirt Marine Terminal. The Neo-Panamax container cranes were delivered aboard the Zhen Hua 24 from China.
“Baltimore is already one of the few ports on the East Coast capable of accommodating the world’s largest container ships,” said Greg Slater, secretary at Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). “These new cranes will allow the Port to serve two ultra-large container ships simultaneously, boosting our capacity and giving us the opportunity to increase revenue and grow the jobs that help fuel Maryland’s economy.”
Giant proportions
Each crane is 450ft tall and weighs about 1,740 tons – 25 feet taller and 190 tons heavier than the port’s first set of Neo-Panamax cranes that arrived in 2012. The new cranes can each extend to reach 23 containers across on a ship and lift 187,500 pounds of cargo. They are anticipated to create more capacity, increase productivity and improve efficiency.
Ports America Chesapeake, which operates Seagirt Marine Terminal under a public-private partnership with the Maryland Port Administration, will test and prepare the cranes over the next few months. The cranes are expected to be fully operational in early 2022.
The cranes are part of a significant expansion by Ports America Chesapeake at Seagirt to provide greater capacity and efficiency to handle anticipated increases in container volumes. The US$166m investment in terminal and yard upgrades includes a second, 50ft-deep berth to accommodate mega-ships; new container handling equipment such as 15 hybrid-electric gantry cranes; and a new truck gate complex.
