Neo-Panamax Cranes Arrive At Port Houston

A trio of new neo-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes arrived at the Port of Houston’s Bayport Container Terminal last month. Standing 158 feet and with an outreach width of 22 containers, the new ZPMC cranes are the largest in the history of Port Houston.

“The purchase and installation of these cranes represent a significant infrastructure investment for Port Houston, which will benefit our customers and partners as well as the Texas economy,” said Roger Guenther, executive director of Port Houston.

With the addition of the three new cranes, Port Houston’s fleet of ship-to-shore cranes now stands at 28, along with an additional 110 rubber-tired gantry cranes.

The new cranes were manufactured in Shanghai and traveled close to 16,000 nautical miles aboard the Zhen Hua 25, a specialized heavy load carrier vessel. The passage took 60 days.

The additional crane capacity comes on the heels of a record 2021 at Port Houston in terms of containers handled.

“Port Houston is an operating port,” Guenther said. “The new STS cranes show Port Houston’s continued commitment to stay ahead of growth in our region. These cranes are our biggest yet and will facilitate working 15,000 TEU-sized vessels anticipated to call our terminals upon completion of the Houston Ship Channel Expansion, ‘Project 11.’”

The port expects to put the new cranes into service by this summer.

The Port of Houston is continuing to see robust growth across its business lines, with a 19 percent surge in cargo tonnage in January.

“I want to commend all of the port people who have been responsible for helping us get this cargo on and off the docks,” Port Commissioner Stephen DonCarlos said at board’s February 24 meeting. “They have done a tremendous job in difficult times, and I want to commend them for that.”