The Port of Liverpool has welcomed four huge new cranes as part of the next phase of a £400m project.
Peel Ports Group - the owner of the port - on Thursday announced four new operational cantilever rail-mounted gantry (CRMG) cranes opening up an additional 15 acres of yard capacity as part of the £400m Liverpool2 scheme.
The four new additions are on top of five new structures that arrived from Shanghai earlier this year - taking the total number of CRMG cranes at the Liverpool2 scheme to 16.
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The multimillion-pound expansion of Liverpool2 is in partnership with global terminal business, Terminal Investment Limited Sarl (TiL).
Once completed, Peel Ports said it will provide global shipping companies reliable access to major import and export centres at the heart of the UK, to further increase capabilities and support increased demand.
It added the next phase of work will mean the creation of over 150 new jobs for the region.
David Huck, managing director at Peel Ports said: “This significant project milestone demonstrates our continued investment in our customers and response to the Port of Liverpool’s growth trajectory as we increase our capacity and market share further.
“The majority of the UK and Ireland live closer to the Port of Liverpool than to Felixstowe, London and Southampton, and this represents a catchment of over 35 million people.
“The Port of Liverpool’s strategic location provides reliable access to major import and export centres at the heart of the UK, and an unrivalled connectivity to Ireland via our Irish Sea Hub”.
The new cranes are intended to help increase throughput and productivity at the port - and have travelled almost 12,000 miles.
They join 12 existing CRMGs and eight ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at Liverpool2, all of which were supplied by Chinese manufacturer Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC) and delivered in phase one of the project.
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From mid-September 2021, work on the third and final phase of the landside project is expected to be fully commissioned.
This will see an additional five acres of yard capacity and another six CRMG’s come online, which will total 10 CRMG’s and 20 acres of yard capacity in this second phase.
That will be supported by over 150 new skilled jobs on Merseyside, with 90 already recruited, trained and deployed this year.
