Final cranes arrive to new port terminal, expanding capacity up to 700,000 containers

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The final pieces of critical equipment for the new Hugh Leatherman Terminal are now being unloaded.

Saturday, six rubber-tired gantry cranes, or RTGs, arrived from China at the terminal around 7 a.m.

The arrival is a part of the first phase to greatly expand the port’s capacity, allowing the terminal to open by the end of March.

“This is going to be the last shipment for what we need to get phase 1 up and running at the Hugh Leatherman terminal,” Project general manager Edward Stehmeyer said.

The terminal will be able to hold up to 700,000 20-foot containers.

When the Leatherman terminal opens, larger ships will use that facility since it will have the largest cranes.

“As we get busier and busier on the terminal, we need to have flexibility with serving all portions of the phase 1 yard. Having 25 RTGs will allow us to do that and allow us to serve any portion of the terminal in an efficient way,” Stehmeyer said.

The Leatherman terminal now has a total of 25 RTGs, and five other cranes to help unload cargo from ships.

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