Port Everglades officials, partners and elected officials on Wednesday celebrated three new Super Post-Panamax container gantry cranes going into service.
The Super Post-Panamax cranes, measuring 175-foot (53 meters) high, are expected to help the South Florida port boost efficiency. Each of the new cranes can reach farther and handle a heavier load, particularly moving containers stacked eight high from a ship’s deck and can reach 22 containers across the ship's deck, compared to the port’s seven Post-Panamax cranes that are 151-feet (46 meters) high and limited to containers stacked six high and reaching across 16 containers. Port Everglades now has a total of container cranes to 13 container gantry cranes (six are Super Post-Panamax and seven are Post Panamax) and one mobile harbor crane.
“With the commissioning of the new cranes, our historic $471 million project for the Southport Turning Notch Extension is nearly complete,” said Glenn Wiltshire, Acting Director of Port Everglades. “However, we’re not here to just celebrate cranes,” he said. “We applaud the investment that our Board of County Commissioners made throughout the years to build up the port’s infrastructure, which benefits the men and women who work these docks and the regional economy.”