Hutchison Ports Sydney earlier this week welcomed the arrival of two giant new quay cranes to the Port Botany container terminal. Built to service container ships of the future with a capacity of over 15,000 TEU, these two behemoths can load and unload vessels with a beam of 23 shipping containers wide and can stack over nine high containers on deck.
John Willy, CEO of Hutchison Ports Australia said “The two additional quay cranes will extend the capability of the port and position NSW for the future. Shipping Lines on the Australia trade will have more options to deploy larger ships which have greater efficiency and higher economies of scale. The largest container ships currently in service to Australia is around 9,000 TEU capacity. The new Hutchison Ports cranes will be able to handle ships 50% bigger again”.
The new cranes were manufactured by ZMPC, the world’s biggest quay crane company. Designed specifically for Hutchison Ports in Sydney to meet the environment around the port these structures stretch upwards over 70m in height and able to lift a container 47m in the air above the wharf and onto the decks or down into the cargo hold of a mega size container ship.
“These two cranes represents a huge step up for Port Botany,” Mr Willy said.
Commenting on the investment, Shipping Australia added: “we congratulates Hutchison on its significant investment, which bodes well for the future. We wish Hutchison every success with the installation and operation of its new equipment.”
