Three cranes able to load the world’s largest container ships will soon be headed to the Port of Oakland, the port said in a recent release.
Shanghai-based manufacturer ZPMC said that construction of the ship-to-shore behemoths is nearing completion in China.
The cranes are due at Oakland International Container Terminal on 14 September, according to terminal operator SSA Terminals.
At 300-feet-high, it is believed they would be the tallest in North America when they commence operations in January.
“As ships keep getting bigger, SSA and ZPMC continue to help us keep ahead of the industry,” said Port of Oakland Executive Director Danny Wan. “We’re very excited and grateful for the partnership.”
ZPMC and SSA updated maritime executives on the new cranes this week at a meeting of the Propeller Club.
The cranes can lift containers 174 feet above the dock, enabling them to stack boxes 12-high on ships.They can reach 125 feet across a ship’s deck, spanning 24 rows of containers. They will be delivered by ship and require five days to be transferred from vessel to dock.
SSA operates the largest marine terminal at the Port of Oakland. Terminals are where ships are loaded and unloaded and where freight haulers pick up or drop off containerized cargo. Ultra large container vessels can carry up to 24,000 TEU.
ZPMC and SSA said Oakland’s new cranes were designed to load and unload ships that big. SSA placed a $30 million order for its new cranes in February 2019. In 2018, it completed a project to raise the height of four other ship-to-shore cranes.
