The Port of Savannah in Georgia has received four electric Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes to upgrade its fleet to 34 machines.
Retiring and recycling four of its older cranes as it seeks to modernise and decarbonise its operations, CEO of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) Griff Lynch said the new cranes would help improve the efficiency of the port’s operations.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Designed and manufactured by Finnish company Konecranes, two of the machines will be 90 metres tall and two will be just over 93 metres tall at the highest point when fully assembled. The reach of the cranes will be 22 and 24 containers wide, respectively. The taller cranes will be offloaded at Berth 1 at Garden City Terminal, with the others to be installed on the upriver end of the terminal at Berth 9.
The news comes after the GPA received a previous batch of four cranes in February to work the recently renovated Berth 1, which is now capable of serving vessels with a capacity of 16,000+ TEU container units. The cranes and improved dock will increase Garden City Terminal’s berth productivity by 1.5 million TEUs of annual capacity.
“The ratio of the GPA’s economic impact equates to roughly one job per nine TEUs moved,” said Stacy Watson, director of economic and industrial development at GPA. “By expanding our annual capacity by 3 million TEUs over the next three years, GPA is also increasing its job-supporting capability by more than 300,000 jobs for Georgians.”
The new equipment is part of the GPA’s US$1.9 billion (AUD$2.9 billion) infrastructure improvement plan to keep pace with future supply chain needs.
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