The cranes that will soon change the skyline of Prince Rupert are on their way, Maher Terminals says that the cranes have set sail across the Pacific from the ZPMC manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China.
They expected to arrive at Fairview sometime between the middle and end of August. Their arrival will signal a turning point for the Port of Prince Rupert which has transformed the formerly under used bulk port into what they hope will be one of North America’s fastest growing container terminals.
The Daily News examined some of the background on the cranes and what they symbolize for both the port and the city’s future.
PORT PROJECT REACHING NEW HEIGHTS AS CRANES ARE SET TO ARRIVE
By Christian Webber
The Daily News
Monday, July 30, 2007
Pages one and three
The massive cranes that are set to dominate the Prince Rupert landscape in the years to come and which are an integral part of the development of the port of Prince Rupert are now making their way to the city.
Frans van Riemsdyk, the senior vice president of Maher Terminals says he is very excited about the imminent arrival of the Fairview Terminal cranes.
He said it is certainly a milestone event that complements the great progress the Prince Rupert Port Authority has made on the construction front.
“The cranes will be arriving mid the end of August and are on schedule,” said van Riemsdyk.
They had originally talked about having the cranes arriving as early as July, but the later date is not an impediment to the planned October start-up, he added.
Van Riemsdyk said it is an enormous part of the terminal operation to see the cranes arrive.
“We are also thrilled for the community of Prince Rupert, we recognize that this started off as a dream and there was a certain amount of skepticism about whether this would all come about,” said van Riemsdyk.
Second only to the arrival of the ships in October is the arrival of the cranes as a sure sign that the business will start flowing through Prince Rupert, said van Riemsdyk.
He said this year has been a very good year in terms of validating the confidence that they have all had in Prince Rupert, the Port Authority has overseen production on time and on budget.
He added that having signed China’s largest ocean carrier, China Ocean Shipping Company, to commence calling at the Port of Prince Rupert is a great show of confidence and viability in the route.
“So I think the combination of those two things underscore our tremendous confidence in the project,” said van Riemsdyk.
The cranes are en-route right now, they were manufactured in Shanghai at the ZMPC facility, probably the largest manufacturing site of container cranes in the world.
“We are looking forward to having them arrive at the harbour, from what I’ve heard they will be the tallest structure in Prince Rupert and will actually dwarf the Highliner Hotel, they will be big cranes able to handle the world’s largest container ships,” said van Riemsdyk.
The first port of call will be Prince Rupert, the crane delivery will emulate what ocean carriers will do in terms of delivering cargo to Prince Rupert through the quickest route from the Far East.
Van Riemsdyk said it will take a week or so for the cranes to be off loaded, there sill be some further commissioning and testing of the cranes along with local training. All of those steps are on schedule to support an October start-up of operations.
There will be a big celebration sometime during September, that the Prince Rupert Port authority will announce to celebrate completion of construction and arrival of all the equipment.
Prince Rupert’s newest resident is Maher Terminals general manager, he has arrived as part of their commitment to Prince Rupert.
“I think in terms of management employees that are now supporting the operation locally, we have built that up to about 10, so the early promises of generating jobs and economic spin-off is starting to show some real signs,” said van Riemsdyk.
They expected to arrive at Fairview sometime between the middle and end of August. Their arrival will signal a turning point for the Port of Prince Rupert which has transformed the formerly under used bulk port into what they hope will be one of North America’s fastest growing container terminals.
The Daily News examined some of the background on the cranes and what they symbolize for both the port and the city’s future.
PORT PROJECT REACHING NEW HEIGHTS AS CRANES ARE SET TO ARRIVE
By Christian Webber
The Daily News
Monday, July 30, 2007
Pages one and three
The massive cranes that are set to dominate the Prince Rupert landscape in the years to come and which are an integral part of the development of the port of Prince Rupert are now making their way to the city.
Frans van Riemsdyk, the senior vice president of Maher Terminals says he is very excited about the imminent arrival of the Fairview Terminal cranes.
He said it is certainly a milestone event that complements the great progress the Prince Rupert Port Authority has made on the construction front.
“The cranes will be arriving mid the end of August and are on schedule,” said van Riemsdyk.
They had originally talked about having the cranes arriving as early as July, but the later date is not an impediment to the planned October start-up, he added.
Van Riemsdyk said it is an enormous part of the terminal operation to see the cranes arrive.
“We are also thrilled for the community of Prince Rupert, we recognize that this started off as a dream and there was a certain amount of skepticism about whether this would all come about,” said van Riemsdyk.
Second only to the arrival of the ships in October is the arrival of the cranes as a sure sign that the business will start flowing through Prince Rupert, said van Riemsdyk.
He said this year has been a very good year in terms of validating the confidence that they have all had in Prince Rupert, the Port Authority has overseen production on time and on budget.
He added that having signed China’s largest ocean carrier, China Ocean Shipping Company, to commence calling at the Port of Prince Rupert is a great show of confidence and viability in the route.
“So I think the combination of those two things underscore our tremendous confidence in the project,” said van Riemsdyk.
The cranes are en-route right now, they were manufactured in Shanghai at the ZMPC facility, probably the largest manufacturing site of container cranes in the world.
“We are looking forward to having them arrive at the harbour, from what I’ve heard they will be the tallest structure in Prince Rupert and will actually dwarf the Highliner Hotel, they will be big cranes able to handle the world’s largest container ships,” said van Riemsdyk.
The first port of call will be Prince Rupert, the crane delivery will emulate what ocean carriers will do in terms of delivering cargo to Prince Rupert through the quickest route from the Far East.
Van Riemsdyk said it will take a week or so for the cranes to be off loaded, there sill be some further commissioning and testing of the cranes along with local training. All of those steps are on schedule to support an October start-up of operations.
There will be a big celebration sometime during September, that the Prince Rupert Port authority will announce to celebrate completion of construction and arrival of all the equipment.
Prince Rupert’s newest resident is Maher Terminals general manager, he has arrived as part of their commitment to Prince Rupert.
“I think in terms of management employees that are now supporting the operation locally, we have built that up to about 10, so the early promises of generating jobs and economic spin-off is starting to show some real signs,” said van Riemsdyk.
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