The mid-Atlantic port on Thursday is scheduled to receive its first six rail-mounted gantry cranes abouard the heavy load carrier Happy Buccaneer as part of a $217 million contract with Konecranes for a total of 86 RMGs.
Six rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs) that are the centerpiece of the Port of Virginia’s $695 million expansion project are expected to arrive Thursday after a nearly three-week journey, the port confirmed Monday.
The six cranes are arriving aboard the heavy load carrier Happy Buccaneer, which departed from Poland on Jan. 12.
In November 2016, the port finalized a $217 million contract with Finnish crane and lifting equipment manufacturer Konecranes for it to build and deliver 86 RMGs. According to the Virginia Port Authority, the contract is the largest one-time order for RMGs in industry history.
Once the Happy Buccaneer arrives in Norfolk Harbor, the vessel is scheduled to berth at the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) marine container terminal, where it will remain while the RMGs are unloaded. The unloading is expected to take six days, at the rate of one RMG per day.
After this first delivery of RMGs to VIG, subsequent deliveries are set to take place through November, with the new container stacks going into service at intervals over the course of two years. In total, 26 new RMGs are to be delivered to VIG, and the other 60 are planned for Norfolk International Terminals.
The $320 million VIG expansion, which is scheduled to be complete by spring 2019, got underway in February 2017. “The work includes adding 13 new container stacks to the container stack yard – supported by 26 new RMGs – lengthening the berth, four new ship-to-shore container cranes, doubling the size of the rail operation and adding new lanes to the truck gate,” the port said.
In total, the work is expected to increase the annual throughput capacity of the terminal to 1.2 million containers.