Jacksonville Port Authority’s (Jaxport) new 100-gauge cranes have begun operations at the newly rebuilt Berth 35 at Blount Island Marine Terminal.

On December 9, 2016, stevedores used two of the three cranes to move containers from Maersk Line’s Sea-Land Comet.

The electric cranes, which arrived at the terminal in August this year, are equipped to service the wider, Post-Panamax vessels currently calling on Jaxport through the expanded Panama and Suez canals.

Each of the three cranes can lift up to 65-tons and reach 22 containers across a ship’s deck, broadening the port’s cargo-handling abilities, according to Jaxport.

The cranes, ordered in 2014, were manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC).

Jaxport invested USD 37.9 million in the purchase and installation of the three cranes, including a USD 15 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.

The port’s long-term strategic plan calls for the purchase of a total of ten 100-gauge cranes for Blount Island in the next 10 years.