OREANDA-NEWS. In July Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) ordered six more Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes from Konecranes for the Port of Savannah, Georgia. Delivery will be in the first half of 2020.

The Konecranes STS cranes currently on order have a lifting capacity of 66 tons, an outreach of 61 meters, and a lifting height of 46 meters above the dock. "We are making this investment in order to stay ahead of demand as our customers devote larger vessels delivering more cargo to Savannah,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch. “By 2020, we will have 18 Neopanamax cranes and the ability to work three 14,000-TEU vessels at a single terminal simultaneously.”

Larger vessels and additional container services calling Georgia's ports coupled with a positive economic forecast ushered in an all-time record year for container volume. The Georgia Ports Authority handled 3.85 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in Fiscal Year 2017, which ended in June –  6.7 % more TEUs compared to the previous year, or 242,221 additional TEUs.

“Our volume growth continues to outpace forecasted demand. Shipping lines are moving 13,000- and 14,000-TEU vessels into service on the East Coast more quickly than anticipated, and concentrating their deliveries at efficient gateway ports like Savannah,” Lynch said. “This new crane purchase, along with the four already on order, will enable GPA to increase crane capacity by nearly 40 percent.”

The Port of Savannah currently operates 146 Konecranes RTG cranes and 26 Konecranes STS cranes, with 4 more under delivery in 2018. The new 6 units will add the total number of Konecranes STS cranes in the terminal to 36.

"It is our privilege to deliver another significant batch of STS cranes to GPA,” says Mika Mahlberg, Konecranes Executive Vice President, Business Area Port Solutions. “It has been exciting to be part of the port’s tremendous growth. The new cranes will add GPA’s capacity to handle the largest vessels calling any port today and tomorrow. They present the latest technology in the industry.”