Norfolk International Terminals get big shipment
170-foot-tall box cranes arrive; final pieces of $450M project
Workers at Norfolk International Terminals slowly and methodically shipped in two of the East Coast’s largest container cranes, according to the Virginia Port Authority, through the Chesapeake Bay and down the Elizabeth River on Friday afternoon.
The 170-foot cranes, as tall as skyscrapers with their booms up, are the final pieces of a $450 million optimization project for the terminal. Each 1,827-ton crane cost about $10 million, Port Authority spokesperson Joe Harris said.
“This benefits the port’s users and it says, very clearly, to the ocean carriers and the industry that we are prepared to handle big ships and growing cargo volumes safely, swiftly and sustainably for decades to come,” Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards said in a news release.
The cranes will expand the port’s lift capacity, berth productivity and ability to handle multiple ultra-large container ships simultaneously, Edwards said.
On Friday afternoon, the Zhen Hua 24 heavy load carrier ship slowly made its way past Naval Station Norfolk to Norfolk International Terminals. The two fully constructed cranes measure 226 feet in length with their booms out — about a third as long as the ship.
Through binoculars, ship crew could be seen scurrying around with orange safety vests while the ship pulled into its berth. Once docked, the cranes will be wheeled into position on rails, Harris said.
“They come from China,” Harris said. “This is the time of year they sail because the storms are right. It’s not terribly stormy.”
Once the new arrivals are operational, 30 shipto-shore cranes will be at work in the harbor. The optimization project has increased the capacity of Norfolk International Terminals by 46%. Along with a similar project at Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth, the region’s terminals now have an added capacity of more than 1 million containers.
The investment seems to be paying off. In February, the port handled a volume equivalent of more than 296,000 20-foot-long shipping containers, a 19% increase from last February.
Still, port leaders are keeping an eye on world events that could affect operations, such as the war in Ukraine, inflation and oil prices, Edwards said in the news release.
Harris said the cranes would be ready for service by late May.