Five massive electric cranes arrive at new Honolulu port facility

Honolulu is building a new container terminal that aims to reduce reliance on the public power grid. On Thursday, workers held a blessing ceremony for five new gantry cranes at the Kapalama Container Terminal site.

The machines traveled 2,600 miles by ocean barge from the Port of Long Beach in California. Each crane stands 245 feet tall, comparable to a 20-story building, and weighs 2.7 million pounds. The first three units arrived in Hawaii on August 19, while the final two were delivered during the latter half of October.

The project is a public-private partnership involving the Hawaii Department of Transportation, The Pasha Group, and Hawaii Stevedores, Inc. Hawaiian Electric also partnered with the group to design and construct the facility. The cranes are all-electric and designed to operate without drawing power from the municipal grid. This setup is intended to keep supply chains moving even if a natural disaster knocks out citywide electricity.

George Pasha IV, chairman and CEO of The Pasha Group, stated that the facility features reusable and self-sustaining energy. He noted that the project has been a team effort since groundbreaking. "From the moment we broke ground, this project has been a team effort," Pasha said. He added that the goal is to build a modernized terminal equipped with self-sustaining features.

The Kapalama Container Terminal will serve as the primary operations hub for Hawaii Stevedores. The $555 million project represents the largest capital improvement plan in the state's commercial harbor system. The installation of the cranes is a major step in completing the facility.

The terminal is designed to expand cargo capacity and support cleaner port technologies. It aims to improve the efficiency and reliability of cargo operations in the state. The new equipment will allow the facility to load and discharge vessels while maintaining energy independence.