Port Saint John will soon have six cranes along the city’s waterfront, allowing it to handle larger vessels and more cargo.
DP World announced plans Friday to add two more cranes at its west Saint John terminal over the coming months.
Craig Bell Estabrooks, the port’s president and CEO, said this will be the most they have ever had at one time.
“They’re actually slightly larger and have a little more reach, so if a container ship is wider, they’re going to be able to handle more cells on the container ship and work it that much more efficiently,” Bell Estabrooks told our newsroom.
With an outreach of 65 metres, the cranes can reach up to 24 containers wide and are capable of servicing vessels with a capacity greater than 10,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).
The lift height of the cranes is also 5.4 metres greater, reaching 40.4 metres, according to a release from DP World.
The news comes as the southern New Brunswick port prepares to welcome even larger container ships in the near future.
Port Saint John recently completed a $205-million west side modernization project, which saw its laydown capacity more than double to 325,000 TEUs.
Work continues on phase two of the project which will increase the port’s laydown capacity to 800,000 TEUs by 2025.
As a result of the modernization project, which includes a deeper and wider channel, DP World added two larger cranes in 2023 to accommodate bigger vessels.
Bell Estabrooks said once all six cranes are in operation, they will be able to have four cranes working on a larger ship at the same time while the other two focus on a second ship.
“To me, this is just a continuation of a longer story that we have the right partner at Port Saint John,” he said.
“We’ve got the attention of one of the best world-class terminal operators in DP World and they just continue to make smart moves and investments to enable growth at this port.”
Doug Smith, the CEO of DP World in Canada, said being able to handle larger vessels and more cargo will directly benefit the local economy.
“We look forward to welcoming these additional cranes as they will make a real difference in our ability to serve our customers and further enhance Saint John’s position as an essential East Coast container destination,” Smith said in a news release.
The cranes are expected to arrive from the Port of Virginia before the end of the year and be operational in early 2025.
