Port of Oakland to raise STS crane height at its largest marine terminal

The Port of Oakland will increase the height of four to six cranes at SSA’s Oakland International Container Terminal.    The Port of Oakland is raising the height of between four and six ship-to-shore container cranes at its largest marine terminal over the next year, allowing it to handle larger containerships, the port said.
   The cranes are at the Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT), which handles 70 percent of the port’s cargo. Stevedoring Services of America (SSA) operates the OICT.
   By installing longer legs, the 366-foot-tall cranes will be raised 27 feet higher.
   The project, which was approved by Oakland’s board of port commissioners on Thursday night, will cost between $14 million and $21 million.
   The Port of Oakland said it will pay to raise the cranes, and SSA will repay the port over the life of its Oakland lease.
   The port said a massive jack will lift each crane off the terminal deck, and then portions of the original crane legs will be cut away and extensions will be added.
   The terminal said it hopes to commence work on the cranes in April.
   Completion is scheduled for the second quarter of 2018, depending on how many cranes are raised, and that number will also determine the total cost of the project.
   Each crane will take about nine weeks to raise, and jacking equipment is already en route to Oakland.
   “We need bigger cranes to work the larger and more heavily laden ships calling Oakland,” SSA President Ed DeNike said. “It’s part of SSA’s long-term commitment to Oakland.”