· Conley Terminal is the only full-service container terminal in New England, and services more than 2,500 businesses.
· Being Big Ship Ready means the Port of Boston will be able to handle ships carrying 12-14,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units/ known as containers);
· Three elements are essential to Boston becoming Big Ship Ready:
o Dredging Boston Harbor, most of which is complete bringing the harbor depth to -47 feet, with the final phase to be completed by 2022. The Turning Basin is being increased from 1,200ft to 1,725ft in diameter to accommodate these larger vessels;
o Taller cranes – Massport purchased three new, specially designed low-profile cranes;
o New deeper berth– Conley’s Berth 10 was completed and dredged to 50 feet to support deeper draft vessels and the three new cranes. The new berth can accommodate ships with up to 14,000 TEUs.
· These investments would not have been possible without the support of the Baker Polito Administration, as well as federal and state elected officials.
· The Port’s 3 new Neo-Panamax low-profile ship-to-shore cranes:
o Have a lift height of 163ft. (approximately 60% higher than our current equipment);
o Two of the cranes are 205 feet high, can reach 22 containers wide, and currently are the tallest low-profile cranes in the world. The other crane is 145 feet high to accommodate for the proximity to a Logan Airport flight path;
o Each taller crane weighs approximately 2,900 tons and can lift 65 long tons with the spreader, and 100 long tons with the cargo beam.
· Crane Unloading Process:
o The Port of Boston’s new Berth 10 was designed to accommodate crane unloading, with removable curbs and bollards;
o A temporary rail system will be constructed in the reinforced area of Berth 10, and the vessel will dock along this section;
o Each crane will be unloaded one at a time. Each will be pulled from the vessel onto Berth 10 via the temporary rail system. The crane will be lifted, the temporary, perpendicular wheels will be removed, and the crane will be lowered onto the Berth 10 crane rails;
o The full offloading operation is expected to take approximately one week.
· Commissioning Process
o The cranes need to be “commissioned” before they can service ships at Conley;
o This process takes several months and includes inspection, testing and staff training on the new equipment;
o The process is expected to be completed in the fall.
· How will being Big Ship Ready benefit New England?
o The Port of Boston is the only full-service Port in New England;
o Becoming big ship ready means Conley can handle the larger ships the industry is already using;
o It not only makes Conley more competitive with other East Coast ports, but makes Boston more attractive to new carriers and can open up new trade lanes that are only served by larger ships;
o This creates more opportunities for New England importers and exporters in the global marketplace;
o The Port of Boston handles approximately 45% of the New England market. This will allow us to grow and capture additional New England cargo.
o These investments also support well-paying blue collar jobs that are important for a healthy, diversified economy
· Why were the cranes built in China?
o Few companies in the world build these types of cranes, and nearly 99% are built in China. Shanghai – based ZPMC is the dominant manufacturer;
o ZPMC designed, built, and are delivering and installing the new Conley cranes.
