Container Crane-Loaded Heavy-Lift Ship Set for Husky Terminal Touchdown

A heavy-lift ship carrying four ZPMC-built super-post-Panamax container cranes will soon arrive at the Husky Terminal in Tacoma, Washington, delivering the second set of four cranes for the terminal.

Puget Sound Pilots are scheduled to board the Zhen Hua 31, a 771-foot-long heavy-lift ship, on March 5 in Port Angeles and begin the journey to Tacoma.

Zhen Hua got underway from Shanghai on January 29.

The ship will sit at anchor in Commencement Bay for a day or two before delivering the cranes to Husky Terminal at the northwest end of the Blair Waterway.

The Northwest Seaport Alliance ordered eight new super-post-Panamax cranes from Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd (ZPMC) in China through a competitive bid process. The first four arrived in February 2018.

The cranes will be installed at Husky Terminal, which underwent about $250 million in terminal improvements on Tacoma’s General Central Peninsula.

Upgrades included strengthening and realigning a berth and adding eight new super-post-Panamax cranes capable of serving two 18,000-TEU container ships at the same time.

The new cranes will have an outreach of 24 containers and a lift height of 165 feet above the pier deck.

Video Courtesy: NWSA