PSA Halifax has unloaded two brand new mega Shipto-Shore (STS) cranes for its Atlantic Hub terminal on the south end of the port. These new ultra-large cranes will be added to the five existing super-post-panamax cranes at the terminal, thus allowing PSA Halifax to handle the largest container vessels deployed along the North American East Coast today.
The new equipment will also play an important role in expanding PSA Halifax’s capacity from 1.1 to 1.4million TEUs by the end of 2024.
The new STS cranes left Shanghaion 7 September 2023 and safely arrived at the Port of Halifax on November 9 after two months of sailing time. The new equipment, which is expected to be ready for live operations in January 2024, will now undergo six weeks of commissioning and testing.
“With an outreach of 24 container rows wide and a lift height of 52 meters above ground, the new STS cranes will add significant muscle and capacity to Atlantic Hub,” said Jan Van Mossevelde, CEO of PSA Halifax. “We will now have three STS cranes that are fully capable of handling vessels larger than 20,000 TEUs in size with no limitations. This means higher vessel productivity and faster turnaround times for mega vessels.”
“We applaud PSA Halifax and their commitment to productivity and continuous improvement,” said Captain Allan Gray, President and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority. “Increasing terminal efficiency is a key focus area for all of us at the Port of Halifax and these new STS cranes will bring us closer to achieving that collective goal.”
PSA Halifax is one of the fastest-growing container terminals in Atlantic Canada. One major milestone in this expansion was the addition of the Fairview Cove terminal at the north end of the port to its portfolio in April 2022. This merger not only expanded PSA Halifax’s capacity and offerings in the port, it also helped PSA Halifax to significantly reduce truck traffic and CO2 emissions in downtown Halifax, by moving several truck-heavy shipping lines from the Atlantic Hub to Fairview Cove terminal.
Since 2019, PSA Halifax has invested almost $100 million in civil improvements and new container handling equipment, and estimates to spend $200 million more over the next 5 years to complete the modernization of both the Atlantic Hub and Fairview Cove terminals. These investments include expanding the rail sidings at the Atlantic Hub terminal from 8,000 to 14,000 feet, adding two new railmounted gantry cranes (RMGs) to load and unload the trains as well as eight new electric rubber-tyred gantry cranes (eRTGs).
(Photo from PSA Halifax)
