Liebherr Container has completed a major upgrade project at Port Liberty New York.Port Liberty New York (formerly Global Container Terminals) is part of the CMA CGM Group. After acquiring GCT’s two terminals at the Port of New York New Jersey in 2023 CMA CGM signed a new lease with the port authority that is based improving throughput and capacity at the two terminals by up to 80%.
The STS upgrade at Port Liberty New York is a key part of that commitment. The work was undertaken by Liebherr Transform, Liebherr’s dedicated upgrade and modification service, and involves upgrading four cranes Liebherr delivered in 2004.
The cranes were delivered with a lift height of 36.57m and an outreach of 50m. The upgrade increases the lift height by 8.6m and the outreach by 5m. This increases the crane’s stack height capability by three tiers and the outreach by two rows. So far three of the four cranes have been upgraded and work on the fourth crane will be completed in the coming weeks.
“Thanks to Liebherr’s innovative jacking system, the entire lift height extension can be completed in several weeks. The patented system, uses the crane’s end carriage as a stable base for jacking, eliminating the need for additional equipment. The process is exceptionally quick and efficient, ensuring minimal disruption to terminal operations,” Liebherr said in a statement. The system was first used on first used to raise STS cranes operated by Patrick Terminals in the Port of Brisbane, Australia.
CMA CGM has ambitious plans for Port Liberty New York. In May 2024 city of New York, New York state and the New York City Economic Development Corporation reached a deal that saw the Port Authority give up its partial stake in the Red Hook container terminal in exchange for full ownership of the Howland Hook Marine Terminal on Staten Island.
The city transferred its ownership of 225 acres at Howland Hook to the Port Authority, allowing the agency to control all 345 acres of the site. This will support CMA CGM’s plan to boost the facility’s capacity by 50% over the next seven years, allowing it to handle up to 750,000 container lifts each year.
access channel have now been extended to include the Howland Hook terminal, which was not initially included in 2022 a study by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that recommended deepening the channels to 55ft. That decision was made on the basis that Global Container Terminals had no plans for further investment that would require deeper channels.
After CMA CGM signed a new long-term lease on the property based on throughput and capacity improvements the port authority revisited this decision. In late 2023 it approved a cost sharing agreement with the USACE to effectively include the Howland Hook site where Port Liberty New York operates in the 55ft channel plan.Editor/Zhao E
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