A fleet of huge cranes arrived on the Mersey today, marking the end of a major project which has spanned several year.
As part of the massive £400 million project, the cranes from Shanghai in China have travelled a huge 11,831 nautical miles to make it to Liverpool.
Spectators caught a glimpse of the cranes arriving in New Brighton and Crosby this afternoon, as they were visible on the horizon from noon onwards.
Striking pictures showed the cantilever rail-mounted gantry (CRMG) cranes arriving earlier this afternoon.
The cranes, produced by Chinese manufacturer Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPM) are part of the £400 million Liverpool2 project.
It is hoped the new cranes will provide additional capacity for growing volumes of cargo.
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Peels Ports Group said the deep-water terminal, which includes the multi-million expansion at Liverpool2, will increase capabilities and support increased demand.
And once complete, the Liverpool-based container terminal will be capable of handling the largest ships in the world.
Each crane measures 35 metres in height with a weight of around 500 tonnes.
David Huck, managing director of Peel Ports Group, said: “The dynamism and strength of the business gives us the confidence to continue to grow and invest.
"Throughout 2021, future-proofing will be at the forefront of our business model, driving forward with planned investments in our people, processes and technology.
“We are on course to achieve our ambitious growth plans to drive UK container market share to 20% by 2025. Liverpool2 is already one of the world’s most modern shipping terminals and we have no plans of slowing down any time soon.
"This recent delivery is testament to this and adds to three additional ship-to-shore cranes already delivered into live operations in December 2019.”
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David added: “The combination of Brexit-related changes and the impetus provided by Covid-19 has highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains to disruption, prompting a significant number of businesses to look at bringing more activity back to the UK.
“Working closely with the world’s leading shipping lines, we hope to encourage more services to the Port of Liverpool to help alleviate some of the pinch points on supply chains that have previously relied on Southern ports. Improving supply chain resilience could help to support the UK Government’s levelling up agenda by rebalancing economic activity away from the South towards areas in the North.”
