The Port of Savannah got four new Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) container cranes on Thursday. These cranes are part of $1.9 billion worth of infrastructure changes that will help the port handle more cargo.
After four older cranes are retired and recycled, the new cranes will bring the total number of machines at the Garden City Terminal, the biggest single container terminal in North America, to 34.
“Along with the completion of our project to improve Berth 1, these cranes will help deliver faster turn times to our ocean carrier customers, including the largest vessels calling on the U.S. East Coast,” said Griff Lynch, Georgia Ports Authority president and CEO. “No other terminal in the nation can bring more cranes to bear, or match the efficiency, productivity and global connectivity of the Port of Savannah.”
The all-electric cranes came on the ship BigLift Barentsz. They were made by the Finland company Konecranes.
When all the parts are put together, two of the cranes will be 295 feet tall and the other two will be 306 feet tall at their tallest point. The cranes will be able to move containers that are 22 and 24 containers wide. The taller cranes will be unloaded at Berth 1 at Garden City port, while the others will be set up at Berth 9 at the upriver end of the port.
In February, GPA got its first set of four cranes to use on Berth 1, which had just been fixed up and can now serve ships with a capacity of 16,000 or more twenty-foot equivalent container units. All eight will be up and running by December.
With the new cranes and dock improvements, the efficiency of the berths at Garden City Terminal will go up by 25%, or 1.5 million TEUs per year.
As part of a $1.9 billion plan to improve infrastructure, the Georgia Ports Authority is buying new cranes. This is to prepare for future supply chain needs.
