Jacksonville port crew tops 47 box moves per hour

Jacksonville port crew tops 47 box moves per hour A Port of Jacksonville container crew has set a new port record for container handling, reaching an average of 47.19 moves per hour.
   Port officials said an International Longshoremen's Association team under the direction of the stevedore S.S.A. Cooper set the record, working the Mediterranean Shipping Co. vessel MSC Malaga. The crew moved 269 containers in 5.7 hours.
   The new record was set at Jacksonville port's Talleyrand terminal managed by Hamburg S'd. To put the record in perspective, the annualized average for container moves at the terminal in 2006 was 36 per hour.
   The record-setting team was anchored by crane operator Homer Wright. Operations managers Jason Hodge for Hamburg S'd, and Frank McBride, for SSA Cooper, said a number of favorable conditions led to the record. That included terminal organization, well-planned stowage aboard the ship, and an experienced cranes operator who worked the entire shift without being replaced.
   'This was a team effort. We know it pays to have good plans, good stowage and good field personnel,' Hodge said. 'We strive to do this kind of work on every single vessel and this shows, given the right conditions, we can do it.'