Massive cranes from China arrive in Port of Tacoma

TACOMA, Wash. — Four massive cranes made their way to the Port of Tacoma, catching people’s eyes up and down the waterway.

“It's pretty impressive. I can't imagine what sort of ride that would be coming across the ocean with something that top-heavy, but it's a testament to engineering, that's for sure,” said Tony Collins.

They are super-post-Panamax container cranes.

They started their journey in China more than a month ago. The cranes traveled across the ocean and reached Commencement Bay Tuesday.

“It’s evidence of the larger trend. Worldwide, we’re seeing ships get larger and larger. It’s more efficient with fuel to get across the sea if you have more containers on a single ship, so we’re seeing more and more of the industry go that way, so what this means to the community is we’re keeping pace with the needs globally of trade,” said Northwest Seaport Alliance Communications Director Katie Whittier.

Four identical cranes sailed to Tacoma on a container ship in winter 2018. The cranes are set up in Husky Terminal, which is where the new cranes will also go.

Together, the eight cranes will be able to serve giant 18,000-TEU container ships, which hold about 18,000 20-foot containers. The Port of Tacoma imports items from places like China and sends our products across the world.

“We send great Washington products like apples, wine, potatoes, frozen potatoes, back to china and Japan or other trading partners, so it really connects us to the rest of the world,” said Whittier.

Each crane costs about $12 million to $14 million.

They cranes will sit in Commencement Bay for a few days before being moved to their spot in the port. They’ll be ready to be used in late spring or early summer.

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