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  July 1st, 2015 | Written by

Port of Los Angeles to Start Construction on Yusen Terminal Improvements

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  • The improvements enable YT to simultaneously work three container ships carrying up to 13,000, 11,000 and 6,500 TEUs.
  • Four new alternative maritime power boxes will be installed to provide shore-to-ship electrical connections.
  • The Port of Los Angeles plans to invest $800 million to improve cargo handling capabilities over the next five years.

Work will begin this summer on a two-year, $44.6 million project to improve the marine container terminal operated by Yusen Terminals LLC (YT) at the Port of Los Angeles.

The improvements “will enhance YT’s ability to service the biggest ships in the transpacific trade lanes, permit the terminal to simultaneously work three container ships carrying up to 13,000, 11,000 and 6,500 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) respectively and ensure cargo flows during peak periods when ships call at all three berths,” the port said.

The terminal, which covers 185-acre serving Berths 212-224 at the port, on Terminal Island, the 185-acre terminal typically receives 6,500-TEU ships and works two vessels concurrently. To date, the largest ship to call at the facility is an 8,500-TEU vessel.

Major elements of the project include deepening Berths 214-216 to 53 feet and Berths 217-220 to 47 feet; adding up to four new ship-to-shore gantry cranes and raising some existing cranes to equip the terminal with up to 14 operating Post-Panamax cranes; and extending the wharf crane rail infrastructure that supports lateral repositioning of ship-to-shore cranes by adding 1,500 feet of crane rail at Berths 217-220.

In addition, four new alternative maritime power boxes will be installed at Berths 217-220 to provide shore-to-ship electrical connection facilities; and the terminal’s on-dock rail capacity will be increased by 25 percent by adding a 2900-foot line of loading track to accommodate higher container volumes in a shorter period of time.

Currently, NYK, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd, Mitsui O.S.K., APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. make regular calls at the terminal, which is operated by Yusen Terminals under a long-term lease with the port that extends through 2026.

According to the Port of Los Angeles, the project is part of its larger capital program “aimed at enhancing berth, gate and rail efficiencies at all Los Angeles marine terminals.” Over the next five years, the port reportedly plans to invest over $800 million in improving cargo-handling capabilities.