GPA cranes off Good Hope

Indeed, four of these giants are currently on their way from China bound for container berths 8 and 9 at Georgia Port Authority’s (GPA) Garden City Terminal, where they will arrive in February.

A Dockwise heavy lift ship is transporting the cranes around the Cape of Good Hope and across the Atlantic Ocean to the port, on a 15,000 mile journey that began in Nantong, China on Christmas Eve.

Built by Konecranes’ facility in China, the cranes, each weighing 1,369 tons and spanning some 425 feet, represent part of a $57.2m investment GPA is making in additional container handling equipment. The new container handling equipment purchases includes four additional ship-to-shore container cranes and fourteen rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes.

“Container vessels have almost doubled in size in the last 40 years, but despite the larger dimensions, shipping lines still demand fast turnaround times. These new cranes are able to load and unload ships with cargo up to 22 containers wide, and do it faster than any other cranes,” says Robert Morris, director of external affairs for Georgia Ports.

Stephen S Green said when he was elected chairman of the Board at Georgia Ports Authority in June that as the fastest growing port in the US, the port is not only creating jobs and economic opportunities faster than any other port, but also has increased infrastructure and planning challenges.

Furthermore, in the last quarter 2007, Konecranes received orders worth ¢40m ($58.7m) from Russian container port operator National Container Company for five ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and fourteen RTG cranes. It also recorded orders from Malta Freeport Terminals for a further ten RTGs and from Finnish container terminal operator Steveco Oy for one STS crane, and three straddle carriers, with a long-term service agreement.