The Port of Virginia is continuing to modernize and expand its operations and recently debuted additional capacity to safely handle simultaneous calls of ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs).
In late January, the port put four new, all-electric, Suez-class ship-to-shore container cranes into service at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT). With the expanded crane fleet at NIT, the port now has the capacity to accommodate four ULCVs at once. Today, the port has 29 ship-to-shore cranes situated on deep water that are capable of handling the biggest container vessels currently serving the Atlantic Ocean trade.
“This is the kind infrastructure investment that lets ocean carriers and cargo owners using The Port of Virginia know they can grow their volumes here,” said Sarah J. McCoy, interim CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “Our berth capability is growing. We now have four ULCV berths and we are quickly heading toward having the berth capacity to handle five ultra-large container vessels at once.”
An ocean carrier’s requirements to safely and efficiently handle its big ships will not outstrip the port’s capabilities to meet those needs, McCoy said. “We understand the future for ship sizes and cargo volumes and we are ensuring readiness at our berths, in our cargo yards, truck gates, rail ramps and in our channels.”
The increase in ULCV berth capacity, McCoy said, coincides with the effort of dredging Virginia’s commercial shipping channels and Norfolk Harbor to 55 feet deep, which will make Virginia home to the deepest port on the US East Coast. The dredge work on the 55-foot channel is set completion by month’s end and the fifth ULCV berth comes online in 2027.
“Our channels are wide enough to handle two-way ULCV traffic and we are in the last phase of deepening,” McCoy said. “When the 55-foot channel opens later this month, multiple ULCVs, loaded to their absolute limits, will be able to call here without water depth restrictions, overhead obstructions, berth capacity or concern for congested ship channels."