Cargo Handling: Northwest Seaport Alliance, Port Everglades
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The managing members of the Northwest Seaport Alliance last week approved the $52 million purchase of four more container cranes from a Chinese manufacturer. They will join four cranes already on order for Husky Terminal in the South Harbor.
The Alliance is a cargo operating alliance between the ports of Tacoma and Seattle. The Managing Partners are the Seattle and Tacoma port commissions.
The members also approved an additional $2.9 million in improvements at Terminal 18 in the North Harbor and the West Hylebos Log Yard and Pierce County Terminal in the South Harbor.
"As the alliance, we can invest holistically in our facilities to ensure they remain competitive in this fast-changing industry," said Dick Marzano, co-chair of The Northwest Seaport Alliance. "These improvements will help us serve our customers better and continue to create the trade-related jobs so vital to our state."
"These investments in Terminal 18 continue to make this one of our best cargo-handling assets for the NWSA," said Port of Seattle Commissioner Stephanie Bowman. "These world-class terminals continue to provide family-wage jobs for our entire region."
With an outreach of 24 containers and a lift height of 165 feet/50.3 meters above the pier deck, the new cranes will be able work ultra-large container vessels.
Construction is underway at Husky Terminal to reconstruct Pier 4 to align it with Pier 3, creating a contiguous 2,960-/902-meter berth. These improvements will allow two, 18,000-TEU ships to dock at the same time.
The reconstructed berth will also include a conduit for future shore power to allow ships to plug into electricity while at dock.
Construction and the first four cranes are estimated to be done in 2018. The four additional cranes will arrive in 2019.
Port Everglades to Purchase Three Super Post-Panamax Container Gantry Cranes
Port Everglades is buying three low-profile Super Post Panamax container-handling gantry cranes to meet demands from current customers and new services anticipated from the port's multi-million-dollar expansion program. The $41.4 million purchase approved June 6 by the Broward County Board of Commissioners includes an option to purchase three additional three cranes within five years of placing the order for the first three.
"Cargo ships are getting larger and several shipping lines already coming to Port Everglades from Europe and South America need Super Post-Panamax cranes now. The longer we wait, the higher the price, in addition to increasing our chances of losing important business," said Port Everglades Chief Executive and Port Director Steve Cernak, PPM®. "We cannot afford to wait until our harbor deepening and widening project is completed because the cranes are needed now."
The cranes will be manufactured in China, and are designed to meet federal height restrictions due to the seaport's proximity to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The low-profile cranes will be able to handle containers stacked eight high and to reach across 22 containers on a ship's decks. By contrast, the seven cranes now operating in the port’s Southport area are limited to containers stacked five high and 16 rows across.
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