Port of Virginia orders four new cranes

The Port of Virginia said Tuesday it has signed a contract to purchase four new ship-to-shore cranes.

Virginia Port Authority board of commissioners approved a $44.8 million spending package in July that covers the cost of the cranes, their delivery and installation at Virginia International Gateway in Portsmouth.

“What is unique about these cranes is their outreach, they will be able to reach across a vessel that is 26 containers wide, which is three-to-four containers wider than most cranes,” John G. Milliken, VPA chairman, said in a statement. “We anticipated needing this capacity (of the cranes) for the ships that will be coming to Virginia 10 years from now. When that day comes The Port of Virginia will be ready.”

Shanghai-based Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. is building the cranes. The contract also includes the purchase of cargo handling components for the cranes and an option on two additional ship-to-shore cranes for use at Norfolk International Terminals.

The move is part of a $320 million expansion at VIG that will expand the terminal’s, berth, rail operation and stack yard and bring the annual container throughput capacity to 1.2 million units. The project is one of two large-scale expansions that, when complete, will increase the port’s overall annual container capacity by 40 percent, or 1 million container units, by 2020.