The NCSPA board approved the $33.2m (€27.8m) contract at the end of September, and delivery will take place in early 2007.
The four cranes will join Wilmington’s four existing container cranes as part of a five-year container terminal expansion programme designed to double container handling capacity at the port’s existing facility.
They, along with the planned purchase of rubber-tyred gantry cranes and improvements to the berths, would give Wilmington the capacity to handle larger, world-class vessels, said Tom Eagar, chief executive officer of the NCSPA. “Our goal is to bring two additional container lines to Wilmington within the next 12 to 18 months,” he concluded.
