New STS Cranes for Port Tampa Bay
Posted by Eric Haun
September 8, 2016
Florida Governor Rick Scott, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio and officials from Port Tampa Bay push the button to celebrate the startup of Port Tampa Bay’s first modern STS cranes with Post-Panamax capability. (Photo: ZPMC)
ZPMC North America has supplied the first new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes ever purchased by Port Tampa Bay, the second delivery to be commissioned by ZPMC’s dedicated North American service group.
ZPMC Crane Services, the U.S. service subsidiary of leading heavy industries brand ZPMC, has completed delivery, offload and commissioning of the first new container cranes ever purchased by Port Tampa Bay. The 65 long ton, cantilever boom gantry-type STS cranes built by ZPMC are capable of working today’s larger post-Panamax ships transiting the expanded Panama Canal. The two new cranes can be used for both container and break-bulk handling.
According to ZPMC Crane Services President Jim Anastasio, the company’s mission is to improve after-sale service support for ZPMC-supplied port equipment by providing an experienced local service team. ZPMC Crane Services operates in North America, Mexico and the Caribbean.
“With 30-plus years of experience in each region, our team takes advantage of the relationships and supply chain developed through decades of working in these markets,” Anastasio said.
The new cranes were manufactured at ZPMC’s facility in Shanghai, China and delivered by one of ZPMC’s own ships in early April. The offload and commissioning was completed June 11, 2016 and the cranes were handed over to port officials on July 22 in a ceremony attended by Florida Governor Rick Scott and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
"Port Tampa Bay was proud to partner with the professional team at ZPMC for the construction and delivery of our two new post-Panamax gantry cranes, ushering in a new era to better serve Florida’s largest and fastest growing market right in our backyard," said Paul Anderson, President & CEO of Port Tampa Bay. "From the procurement, delivery and the installation, ZPMC showed why they are the best in the world at making these cranes.”
According to Anderson, the Tampa Bay/Orlando I-4 Corridor is home to the largest concentration of distribution centers in Florida and is the fastest growing region of the state, which recently surpassed New York as the third most populous state with more than 20 million residents, welcoming over 100 million tourists per year.
