Port of Seattle Takes Delivery of New Container Cranes

Q. What's orange, weighs more than three million pounds and can lift loads as heavy as ten adult African elephants?

A. Any of three new container cranes that will be delivered to the Port of Seattle Tuesday, July 22.

The three container cranes are bigger than any in the Pacific Northwest and equal in size to the world's largest. With the boom in the upright position, they tower 391 feet into the sky. They are capable of loading and unloading any container ship afloat today, as well as larger vessels on the drawing boards of naval architects. With an outreach of 200 feet, they will be able to work ships that are up to 23 containers wide.

The cranes are expected to sail into Elliott Bay at approximately 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 22. They will be unloaded from the ship onto the pier at Terminal 37/46 over a period of several days.

Manufactured by Zen Hua Port Machinery Company in Shanghai, China, the cranes are worth $7.83 million each and are part of a $71 million expansion and upgrade of Terminal 46 for Hanjin Shipping, based in South Korea. Hanjin has leased Terminal 46 since 1979. The company's current lease runs through 2010, with an option to extend for another five years.

"These three cranes are a visible symbol of the Port of Seattle's leadership in international trade and transportation," said Port of Seattle Commission Chair Patricia Davis. "Containerized trade through this harbor generates thousands of jobs and over $1 billion in annual business revenue," Davis added.

"Hanjin is one of the world's foremost container shipping lines and one of our most important customers. We are committed to Hanjin and to the container business for the long-term future,'' she said.

"Hanjin Shipping has been growing in Seattle with the Port's cooperation since we opened our service and exclusive terminal here more than 20 years ago," said J.H. Ryu, Regional Manager of Hanjin Shipping. "These new mega-sized cranes will help us launch our super size vessel service in Seattle along with our ongoing terminal expansion. That means we will be more competitive, handle more volume, provide faster and more efficient service to our customers, and contribute more to the expansion of Washington State's economy."

From start to finish it took 18 months to build the cranes. Once assembled, they were loaded aboard the specially designed and built Zen Hua 4 and set sail for Seattle on July 2.

"We're preparing for the future," said Port of Seattle CEO M. R. Dinsmore. "The investment we're making at Terminal 46, along with the more than $600 million we've invested in our container facilities at Terminals 5 and 18 will allow us to handle more than twice the 1.44 million containers we saw in 2002," Dinsmore said.

Year-to-date through June the Port's container volume is up 8 percent. In 2002 container volumes grew 9 percent.

"We're moving more containers per acre than in the past," said Charlie Sheldon, Managing Director of the Seaport Division. "The improvements we've made at our facilities, such as bigger and faster cranes, dockside rail yards, and high-capacity truck gates, create efficiencies and make us more competitive," Sheldon said.