Harrison County

Gulfport's gantry cranes arriving

By ANITA LEE

calee@sunherald.com

Twitter: calee99
A ship carrying gantry cranes to be used at the state Port of Gulfport heads into the port on Friday morning. The cranes are part of a improvement project that is intended to add business and employees to the port.
A ship carrying gantry cranes to be used at the state Port of Gulfport heads into the port on Friday morning. The cranes are part of a improvement project that is intended to add business and employees to the port. John Fitzhugh jcfitzhugh@sunherald.com

GULFPORT -- State port commissioners and staff peered out the window of their 14th-floor conference room Thursday, trying to spot three enormous gantry cranes headed to shore this morning.

The ship carrying the cranes moored Thursday off Ship Island for a U.S. Coast Guard inspection and must wait for sunrise to sail ashore. Port director Jonathan Daniels expects their arrival about 9 a.m., after a two-month voyage from China, where heavy equipment manufacturer ZPMC built them at a cost of $30 million.

When the booms are raised, the cranes will stand 300 feet tall. Each crane includes 300 LED lights 24-hour operation. They should be unloaded by midweek and will undergo testing over the next two months.

-- Anita Lee

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 7:40 PM with the headline "Gulfport's gantry cranes arriving ."

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