Cargo Business Techwire

Friday, May 15, 2015

Top Story

Port of Houston takes delivery of 4 mega STS cranes

Four 30-story wharf cranes were delivered to the Port of Houston Tuesday afternoon, completing their 70-day journey from South Korea, according to a port statement.

The electric cranes are the largest ever built by Konecranes in Mokpo, South Korea, standing 289 feet high with a lift height of 204 feet. They can handle box ships up to 22-containers-wide.

The 4 Super Post-Panamax Ship-to-Shore cranes are part of a bigger $700 million revamp of the Barbours Cut Container Terminal to accommodate bigger container ships with more cargo.

Two years ago, the port commission approved a $50 million contract to buy and ship the order from manufacturer Konecranes.

Photo credit: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle

According to a statement from the Port of Houston Authority, the new cranes will be able to load and unload ships at 295 feet per-minute, almost twice as fast as the current cranes at the terminal.