On Dec. 10, Gov. John Bel Edwards welcomed four new 100-foot-gauge container gantry cranes to the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal at the Port of New Orleans, according to a port press release.
The new gantry cranes will service larger Post-Panamax ships, complement the terminal’s two existing 100-foot gauge cranes and allow Port NOLA’s three 50-foot-gauge gantry cranes to serve smaller vessels and its container-on-barge service to Memphis and the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. Once the new cranes are operational, nine ship-to-shore container cranes will serve the terminal.
The $112 million investment, which included $49 million for the construction and delivery of the cranes from Shanghai, China, and $63 million to modernize the wharf and extend the crane rail infrastructure, began in 2019. The cranes are essential to Port NOLA’s overall plan for the gateway, which includes optimizing facilities in New Orleans and building the Louisiana International Terminal, a new container terminal, in St. Bernard Parish.
Port NOLA President & CEO Brandy Christian applauded Edwards and the Louisiana legislature for providing critical project funding, including $43 million from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and the state’s capital outlay budget. Read the entire press release.
