en.Wedoany.com Reported - Konecranes recently initiated the delivery transport of a giant gantry crane. Named P-82 and nicknamed "Big Blue," the 200-foot-tall crane is currently being shipped via barge from its manufacturing facility in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on a 9,000-nautical-mile journey to its final destination at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii. The massive structure, securely fastened to the barge and towed by the tugboat "Ocean Tower," is drawing attention along the route.

This customized gantry cantilever crane is part of the U.S. Navy's Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP). The U.S. Navy signed a contract with Konecranes in 2019 to order an initial batch of up to seven such cranes, with P-82 being the second to be delivered. The total contract value is $370 million, aimed at upgrading equipment across four public shipyards. The base design of P-82 can accommodate support rails of different sizes and shapes to match the historic layout of U.S. Navy shipyards.

From a naval planning perspective, this falls under the "Weight Handling System (Crane Type)." It will be installed at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard as key equipment for the shipyard's deep renovation project and will operate on some newly constructed rails in the future. The crane can lift components weighing up to 175 tons. As part of the shipyard's comprehensive modernization, U.S. Navy engineers are building a new full-scale dry dock, Dry Dock 5, at a cost of $2.8 billion. This is a rare large-scale dry dock construction project in the United States and the first such facility built at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard since World War II. The dock is large enough to support future submarine-level maintenance work, including the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine fleet, a key element of the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

This article is compiled by Wedoany. All AI citations must indicate the source as "Wedoany". If there is any infringement or other issues, please notify us promptly, and we will modify or delete it accordingly. Email: news@wedoany.com