Port of Oakland to build new warehouse, raise height of STS cranes

The Californian port said its plans to raise the height of six ship-to-shore cranes by 26 feet beginning in April, allowing them to reach containers stacked aboard the largest ships calling North America.    The Port of Oakland expects to begin construction on nearly 750,000 square feet of warehousing this year and raise the height of six ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, the Californian port said.
   “These projects are game-changers for the Port of Oakland. They give us growth potential for the next 20 years,” Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll said.
   Port of Oakland Executive Director Chris Lytle told a 60-member task force of port stakeholders that met this week, “We want more cargo, but we need all of you at the table to make sure we do it right.”
   Construction of a 283,000-square-foot “Cool Port” refrigerated warehouse to be operated by Lineage Logistics and Driesbach Enterprises could begin in March. The facility will be used to transload meat from containers into railcars, and could result in an additional 30,000 containers full of chilled meat moving through Oakland each year.
   Later in the year, construction of a 440,000-square-foot warehouse area known as the Seaport Logistics Complex could possibly break ground. The port is negotiating a deal with the real estate developer, CenterPoint, which is affiliated with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
   The Port of Oakland also said it plans to raise the height of the six STS cranes by 26 feet beginning in April, which would allow them to reach containers stacked aboard the largest ships calling North America. Four of the cranes will be at SSA’s Oakland International Container Terminal and two of them will be at the TraPac terminal.