New Crane Arrives at Dutch Harbor

New Crane Arrives at Dutch Harbor

High winds caused the dockside crane at the APL Dutch Harbor terminal in Alaska to collapse in December 2009 and a replacement crane was required. The best option for APL was to modify and transport a late 1980’s vintage MES post-Panamax crane with articulating boom from APL’s Kaohsiung, Taiwan, terminal to Dutch Harbor.  The wharf was also modified to suit the replacement crane.

APL retained Portek as the contractor to perform the crane modifications.  Portek transported the crane from its original location in Kaohsiung to a nearby wharf where they performed the crane modification work and seafastening installation. In late June, the crane modification work was complete and the crane was loaded on the barge for transport to Dutch Harbor.  Meanwhile, West Construction began work on the wharf modifications at Dutch Harbor.  The crane arrived at Dutch Harbor in August 2010 and should be in service by the end of September 2010.

Liftech provided crane modification engineering that included changing the gage from 80 ft to 50 ft, modifying the tie-downs, and strengthening the crane structure to suit the gage change and conditions at Dutch Harbor.

Liftech’s wharf engineering modifications included new wharf stowage hardware, strengthening and replacing two crane stops, and modifying and replacing tie-down hardware.

Liftech also assisted Portek with the seafastening scheme and checked the adequacy of the affected wharves for the temporary loads imposed by skidding of the crane on and off the barges.