In Elliott Bay now: 3 huge new cranes for Port of Seattle

(See ’em in the distance? From @sudsymaggie via Twitter)
The Port of Seattle says three “Super Post-Panamax cranes” have arrived in Elliott Bay, and will be delivered to Terminal 18 tomorrow morning. According to port spokesperson Peter McGraw, “These cranes reach 24 containers wide, and will allow port facilities to handle the largest container vessels made.” The arrival is apparently a bit earlier than expected; this Seattle Times (WSB partner) story from August said they’d arrive in January. ADDED 5:38 PM: A closer photo, from Danny McMillin:

Thanks to Danny and Maggie for sharing photos!

Austin November 28, 2011 (4:54 pm)

Any idea where these cranes were shipped from? I saw that ship from my office and can’t imagine it being able to sail upright in stormy weather.

WSB November 28, 2011 (5:35 pm)

Haven’t found that yet. Did just get a much-closer shot of the ship (Zhen Hua 9) and cranes and am adding to the story … TR

Sonoma November 28, 2011 (5:50 pm)

More exports from China, perhaps?

JayDee November 28, 2011 (6:31 pm)

It would be interesting to know how they counteract the movement of cranes from a ballast point-of-view. They had to come across the Pacific recently so they must have experienced high winds — The ship must have powerful engines and a rudder to offset the sail-action of the cranes.

cj November 28, 2011 (6:45 pm)

It took a little digging but yes China , Shanghai. The company who also makes cranes and large steel structures also owns quite the impressive fleet of these with their Shanghai Zhenhua shipping co. There are some really cool images of this ship and her sisters on the web.

Marie November 28, 2011 (7:35 pm)

Here’s a view of them coming in, as seen from downtown near sunset.

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/28/9079137-china-exports-massive-container-ship-cranes-to-the-us

smokeycretin9 November 28, 2011 (7:37 pm)

Pretty cool. But how is all that new cargo supposed to get in and out of Seattle, by bicycle?

B@TT November 28, 2011 (8:54 pm)

Recent history only takes it just off WA Coast:

http://marinetraffic.com/ais/datasheet.aspx?datasource=ITINERARIES&MMSI=377729000

Would be cool to see the path from the beginning.

rob November 29, 2011 (11:07 am)

Any chance you might get some photos of them being unloaded?
Curious how they are going to get those things off the ship.

austin November 29, 2011 (9:11 pm)

I’m with rob, cranes unloading cranes is apples and bananas.

WSB November 29, 2011 (9:36 pm)

Sorry we lost track of them … other priorities intruded this morning and I didn’t get down to the water to see what happened to them … by the time I was finally leaving the peninsula this afternoon for a White Center-related story in Issaquah, I couldn’t really tell amid the ever-growing forest of cranes which ones were the new ones!!! – TR

rob November 29, 2011 (11:30 pm)

I can see the port from my window at work. They were still sitting on the ship at 3:30 when I left this afternoon.

Given how big they are, my guess is they will have some sort of ramp setup to roll them off. Would take a pretty big crane to lift those, not only would they be heavy but they are really tall. Unfortunately, from my vantage point the containers, ships, etc make it difficult to see what is going on on the ground.

Got to see the last set come in (the other white ones) a while back, but I only got to see them while they were still on the ship because I had to leave town on business. Hoping I get a chance to see them unload these.

Robert McDonald December 6, 2011 (2:36 pm)

Several days ago, the PT Leader published a photo of the Zhen Hua 9 entering Puget Sound with three massive container cranes, the first of six, bound for the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 18. She looks a little tender with 200 foot high cranes, as compared to her 41 foot draft. But like the Space Needle, her center of gravity is surprisingly low.

But there is more behind the dramatic photograph than meets the eye. The real question is “What is wrong with this photograph?”

Plenty.

*Each of the cranes are built by Zhangiagang Port Machinery Company (ZPMC), a division of Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Company, Ltd., headquartered in Shanghai.
*Each crane is valued at approximately USD $9m.
*ZPMC also owns and operates the Zhen Hua 9, built in Japan, manned by largely Chinese crews.
*The new generation of long-reach container cranes is necessary to service a new generation of “Super Panamax” container ships, to be built in either China or South Korea.
*The ships will carry more containers, carrying almost everything you see in your local Wal Mart, K Mart and so on. As compared to our top five exports to China, including computers, crop production, chemicals, transportation equipment and machinery.
*A hefty number of containers are never re-filled with US goods to go back to China. Those are seen stacked in huge numbers around Seattle and Tacoma, as well as Portland – virtually any container port. The number of idle containers reflects the imbalance of trade.
*In 2010, China was our third largest export country, following Canada and Mexico.

That is part of what is wrong with this photograph of the Zhen Hua 9 passing Port Wilson.

Pretty sad state of affairs greed and outsourcing has put us in. The cranes, ships, container contents, should have been made in America!

BTW, ZPMC successfully completed the steel structure project of San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge The world’s top bridge is labeled with “Made in China.”

Robert McDonald

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