New crane damaged at Port of Virginia

New crane damaged at Port of Virginia    Workers for the Virginia Port Authority's private operating company Tuesday night successfully stabilized a massive new crane that was damaged in an accident so it doesn't topple into the Elizabeth River, spokesman Joe Harris confirmed.
   Last week Chinese manufacturer Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (ZPMC) delivered two post-Panamax cranes to the APM Terminals container facility in Portsmouth that is under the operational control of the VPA.
   One of the cranes was severely damaged Monday when the ZPMC vessel pulled away from the dock and one of two cranes still onboard clipped the 259-foot-tall crane on shore. The collision also caused minor damage to the wharf and buckled one of four sets of rail wheels on which the crane sits.
   The ZPMC vessel Zhen Hua 24 was to deliver the two remaining cranes and four rubber-tired gantry cranes to a port in Colombia.
   The impact on container-handling operations at APM Terminals Virginia will be minimal as two of the three berths there will be usable and operator Virginia International Terminals can switch vessels to the nearby Portsmouth Marine Terminal if necessary, Harris said.
   No one was hurt in the incident, which occurred during a period of sustained high winds.
   The Virginian-Pilot was the first to report on the accident.
   ZPMC is expected to cover the cost of repairs, port officials said.
   The new cranes were scheduled prior to the accident to be operational the first week of March, giving the terminal eight of the long-reach cranes.
   In 2007, four cranes being delivered to the Port of Wilmington in North Carolina were damaged when a ZPMC vessel collided with a dredge barge on the Cape Fear River. Metal parts, including catwalks, railings and access platforms, sustained the bulk of the damage. ' Eric Kulisch