Hutchison Ports FCP is pleased to announce the arrival of three new Super Post Panamax Ship to Shore cranes from China .  The new equipment will bring back FCP’s fleet size to 10 quay cranes and is expected to restore full terminal operations.

“We are excited about the arrival of the new quay cranes when it’s been almost 2 years since the devastating effects of Hurricane Matthew. Operating at full fleet size at the quay, we will improve our overall customer service with better reliability and performance,” said FCP Port Director, Lucian Laing.

“Our capacity will go back up to 100 percent,” said FCP Engineering Manager, Charles Stewart. “With that we can better, by far, accommodate the business of our customers and be able to put more people back to work; and they will be able to work more consistently.”

Standing at 410 feet, these ZPMC cranes represent an upgrade from the current fleet in which they are capable of remote control operation. “These are not the conventional quay cranes where the operator sits and operates in a cab at the crane,” explained Laing, FCP Port Director. “Instead it is remotely operated in an office environment.”

The cranes will be three of only five in the region. The remaining two are slated for FCP’s sister port in Mexico.

“Prior to the arrival of the cranes, FCP engineers and operators went to Oman and Shanghai for training in 2017 so that they are ready to operate the new semi-automated cranes.

“There are a lot of new hurricane features that are improvements on these new cranes that will make them better able to withstand adverse weather conditions,” said Stewart.

The new cranes will be ready for operation in July, after a period of commissioning.