VANCOUVER, (July 26, 2005) — The month-long trucker strike in B.C.’s Lower Mainland isn’t over, but there’s a small bit of good news for those who’ve been wishing for faster loading and unloading of containers at the port Vancouver.

Two of the world’s largest container cranes are due to arrive in English Bay from China destined for the Centerm port.

P&O Ports Canada has purchased the cranes for $19.2 million as part of a $148 million redevelopment project aimed at doubling capacity at the terminal by March 2006.

One of the Port of Vancouver’s major container handling facilities, Centerm is operated by P&O Ports Canada under a long-term lease from the Vancouver Port Authority.

Built by Zhenhua Port Machinery Company of Shanghai, the two cranes, each the height of a 35-storey building and weighing 1,350 metric tonnes, are capable of servicing the world’s largest container ships, twice the size of those currently trading to Vancouver.

The Vancouver Port Authority has projected that container volumes through the port will more than triple by 2020, up from the 2004 figure of 1.7 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units, a standard industry measure).

The additional cranes, bringing Centerm’s total to five, and will enable the port to service two vessels simultaneously. Customers will benefit from increased productivity, faster handling and shorter vessel turn-around times, the company says.