Port of Cleveland’s new harbor cranes boost box service

The Port of Cleveland has commissioned two new mobile harbor cranes for use in its now two-year-old Cleveland-Europe Express service, attracting new shippers like Lubrizol Corp.    The Port of Cleveland has commissioned two new mobile harbor cranes for use in its now two-year-old Cleveland-Europe Express service.
   The cranes are Liebherr model 280s, which the port said has helped it win over more Ohio shippers to use the all-water, scheduled container-shipping service which it operated in partnership with vessel operator Spliethoff Group in the Netherlands.
   One of those shippers to begin using the CEE service this spring is Wickliffe, Ohio-based specialty chemical company, Lubrizol Corp.
   “As a major exporter from Northeast Ohio, we are excited to now have this option to ship directly from the Port of Cleveland, eliminating the overland segment to East Coast ports,” said Matthew Joyce, Lubrizol’s director of supply chain for the Americas, in a statement.
   “These cranes and other investments at the port allow us to compete for and win business like Lubrizol’s,” added Will Friedman, the Port of Cleveland’s president and chief executive officer. “Global commerce demands high productivity and these machines, when operated by our skilled longshoremen, deliver the results.”
   Spliethoff’s multipurpose vessels make the trip between Cleveland and Antwerp at least twice monthly during the St. Lawrence Seaway shipping season.The transit time between the two ports is estimated to be 12 to 14 days, which is equal to the door-to-door transits for containers moving from Ohio via truck or rail to a U.S. Northeast port and then to Northern Europe by vessel.