Spotted: Port Houston’s Cranes Start Their Journey

Three new super post-panamax cranes are currently being shipped aboard the heavy lift vessel ZHEN HUA 13 toward their destination – Port Houston’s Barbours Cut Container Terminal.

Along the journey, which started in Shanghai on July 23, these 405-feet-tall cranes will travel with booms fully raised. Once they reach their destination after a two and a half month journey, the cranes are slated to replace three older ones at Barbours Cut.

They are just a part of a USD 700 million modernization program under way at Barbours Cut to increase cargo-handling efficiency and capacity. In addition to new cranes, other improvements, including wharf and container yard reconfiguration measures, are expected to increase terminal capacity from 1.2 million to 2 million TEUs, adding to the 14 ship-to-shore wharf cranes and 44 rubber-tired gantry cranes
(RTGs) currently operating at the site.

“Considerable improvements are being made by Port Houston as we strategically prepare for expected growth,” Roger Guenther, Port Houston Executive Director, said.

Last month, Port Houston informed that its Barbours Cut terminal established a new record for container lifts from one vessel when it undertook 4,198 moves while working with the 5,000 TEU containership COSCO BOSTON.

The USD 33 million purchase of Port Houston’s super post-panamax cranes was approved by the Port Commission in 2015, and they are expected to be delivered to Barbours Cut on or around October 7.

Image Courtesy: Port Houston