APM LA terminal gives cranes a lift
The first of ten ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at APM Terminals Los Angeles Pier 400 facility has been raised 10m (33-feet) to make it the tallest port crane in North America.
This US$40m investment hopes to enable safer, more reliable services for the largest ships on the trans-Pacific trade routes.
Ready for vessel operations in the next few months, the heightened cranes are designed to prepare for regular ultra-large container vessel (ULCV) calls, carrying up to 20,000 teu per vessel.
“The LA crane extension project, representing an investment of $40m keeps APM Terminals at the forefront of infrastructure improvement and upgrades in US port operations,” said Kim Fejfer, APM Terminals CEO.
He added: “Our aim is to enable global trade through safest, most efficient technology available for reliable port operations.”
Before the upgrade, the largest ships that could be served were vessels carrying an average of 13,000 teu.
APM Terminals Pier 400 Los Angeles operates a total of 14 STS cranes. The ten retro-fitted cranes will enable handling vessels that have a beam of 23-containers wide, and stacked ten containers high above deck.
An additional feature of the upgraded cranes is the installation of Light Emitting Diode (LED) illumination, which will aim to improve operator visibility and accuracy of the cranes’ Optical Character Recognition (OCR) programmes. The cranes will use 60% less energy than conventional lighting systems.
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