HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The arrival of three new 270 foot-tall Super Post-Panamax cranes to Port Houston’s Bayport Container Terminal today highlights $100 million in investments there. These three neo-panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes are the first of two crane shipments Port Houston is to receive this week.
These newest STS cranes are the first of eight cranes to be delivered over the course of two days. The additional five cranes scheduled for delivery Wednesday are rubber-tired-gantry (RTG) cranes.
“The level of activity with the shipments of cranes this week is unprecedented,” said Executive Director Roger Guenther. “To see the visual display of both ship-to-shore and container yard cranes being delivered to our newly constructed Wharf #2 at Bayport in a matter of days is an amazing demonstration of our commitment to investment at work.”
Port Houston is the largest container port on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, handling nearly 70 percent of all containers moving through the gulf. Considerable strategic investment is being made by Port Houston in response to the steady growth it is experiencing.
The new cranes at Bayport and construction of Bayport Wharf #2 are a part of its program to increase capacity, cargo-handling efficiency and support the port’s infrastructure. The port’s newest ship-to-shore cranes will be the largest cranes in Texas, standing nearly 30 stories tall with a boom length of 211 ft. able to load and unload vessels up to 22 containers wide.
The newest STS cranes cost about $35 million and the RTG cranes cost a little more than $2 million each. Construction of Bayport’s Wharf #2 is an estimated $35 million project. Bayport Container Terminal recently recorded the largest number of single-vessel container box lifts in its history, with more than 4,800 lifts performed during one vessel operation.
Further demonstrating its commitment to strategic investment, the Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority recently awarded a $49 million construction contract for Container Yard 7 at the Bayport Terminal. This new construction will add 50 additional acres of container yard storage area.
The three newest STS cranes will bring to a total number of 26 ship-to-shore cranes operational cranes working at Port Houston’s Bayport and Barbours Cut Container Terminals, 13 of which are super post-panamax. The scheduled delivery on Wednesday of the five new RTG’s is part of an order of ten cranes. The next five RTG’s are scheduled to arrive sometime in September.
About Port Houston
For more than 100 years, the port has owned and operated the public wharves and terminals of the Port of Houston – the nation’s largest port for foreign waterborne tonnage and an essential economic engine for the Houston region, the state of Texas, and the nation. It supports the creation of nearly 1.175 million jobs in Texas and 2.7 million jobs nationwide, and economic activity totaling almost $265 billion in Texas – 16 percent of Texas’ total gross domestic product – and more than $617 billion in economic impact across the nation. For more information, visit Port Houston’s website at: www.porthouston.com.