Four Super Post-Panamax Cranes Arrive in Savannah, Georgia

Monday, The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) announced the arrival of four new super post-Panamax cranes at the Port of Savannah aboard the Dockwise M/V Tern. Garden City Terminal now has the largest fleet (23) of ship-to-shore cranes at one facility in this country.

The cranes are part of the GPA’s long-term strategic growth plan to accommodate 6.5 million TEUs of capacity by 2018, doubling its current capacity.

Fully assembled, the cranes are approximately 425 feet long, weigh 1,369 tons and rise 180 feet above the water with a 34-degree incline.

Modern and environmentally friendly, the four new cranes are the largest of their kind in the world, with the capability of handling super post Panamax vessels the size of 22 containers wide. The state-of-the art cranes were designed in Finland and built in China by Konecranes VLC in China.

The new cranes are energy efficient and will be powered solely by electricity. “The cranes will generate more than 30 percent of their total energy requirements by tapping into the power of gravity and kinetic energy,” said GPA’s Director of Engineering and Maintenance Wilson Tillotson. “For every one hour each of these cranes is operational, it uses its own power for approximately 18 minutes.”

Source: Georgia Ports Authority

Interesting Note: The U.S. Coast Guard closed access to the Savannah River for only the second time in the ports history while police closed road traffic over the Talmadge Bridge as the cranes passed below.