BOSTON (WHDH) - A trio of massive cargo cranes will soon be visible in the skyline as part of the Massachusetts Port Authority’s $850 million push to prepare Boston Harbor for larger ships that will serve all of New England.
The fully built, Neo-Panamax cranes have begun their journey to Boston on a ship from Shanghai, China, according to MassPort. They are slated to arrive at Conley Terminal this summer and are expected to be operational this fall.
Two of the cranes are 205 feet tall and one is 145 feet. All three weigh 2,000 tons. The two larger ones have a lifting height of 160 feet, can reach 22 container rows wide, and are the tallest low-profile cranes in the world.
Larger cranes are needed due to the shipping industry’s shift toward larger vessels that hold more containers and the 2016 expansion of the Panama Canal to accommodate them, according to Massport.
In addition to the cranes, Boston is also getting a new deepwater berth, which will help the city handle larger ships and help more New England importers and exporters connect with the global marketplace.
The new Berth 10 is 1,250 feet long and dredged to 50 feet so the new cranes can efficiently service larger container ships.
“The Port being big ship ready comes at a critical time as the region’s economy recovers from the impacts of the pandemic,” said Massport CEO Lisa Wieland. “Massport’s investment in the future of Conley Terminal shows our commitment to support the New England importers and exporters that rely on the Port, as well as the thousands of workers across the Port.”
The journey from China to Boston will take about two months and the public can track the cranes’ location on the Port of Boston’s Twitter account.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)