MIT orders four super post-Panamax gantry cranes

Manzanillo International Terminal in Panama said the new cranes are part of a $270 million expansion plan at the cargo terminal.    Four new super Post-Panamax gantry cranes set sail for Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) in Manzanillo, Panama June 20.
   The construction of the cranes was managed by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (ZPMC) and they were transported from the factory aboard the company’s 45,403-dwt. special transport vessel, the Zhenhua 11.
   The voyage will take around two months and the cranes are expected to be up and running by October.
   The cranes will be the largest container cranes ever received by a container terminal in Panama or the Caribbean and will be able to handle the largest containerships in the world, MIT said in a statement. They will be operated from a remote control station inside the terminal.
   Once these cranes, which will be operated from a remote control station inside the terminal, are operational, a total of 11 post-Panamax and eight super post-Panamax container cranes will be lined up along MIT’s 2,000 meter container quay. MIT will then be able to handle two new-Panamax vessels simultaneously.
   MIT said the cranes are part of a $270 million expansion plan at the terminal. Once expansion is completed, the terminal will have the ability to handle 4 million TEUs annually.