New Liebherr port crane in Maui

A $5 million Liebherr mobile harbor crane has been installed in Maui, Hawaii following an economic upsurge on the island. Ocean transportation company Matson Navigation installed the LHM 400 at the port of Kahului to strengthen its container handling capabilities. The machine has a 114 ton (104 tonne) maximum lifting capacity at 72 feet (22 meters) outreach. Maximum outreach is 157 feet (48 meters) and the crane was transported by barge from Rostock, Germany, to Kahului.

The crane will complement Matson's inter-island container barge service and improve the level of service to and from neighboring Hawaiian islands. Gary North, senior vice president at Matson's Pacific division said, “Maui's economic growth in recent years has resulted in increased cargo volumes through its primary port, Kahului, as well as rises in vessel calls by the passenger sector. With this new crane, we will now have the capability of expanding this service enhancement to include container operations for our combination ro-ro/container vessels calling at Kahului.”

North said the new crane will help improve productivity for the Kahului container barge operations and reduce container trans-shipment activity in Honolulu.