The commissioning of two super cranes at Kingston Freeport Terminal is expected to boost efficiency in the moving of large containers at the wharf as Jamaica continues its push to becoming a major, global logistics hub.

On Wednesday, the two Super Post-Panamax Ship-to-Shore (STS) cranes were officially deployed by Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ) and Kingston Freeport Terminal Limited (KFTL) with Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness hailing the deployment as a major development.

“I am celebrating the investments in these two new state-of-the-art super cranes. It is a sight to behold. We were almost 20 storeys in the air looking down at a ship that carries 15,000 20-feet containers. Think how long it would take to offload 15,000 containers and if you can do that in a short space of time then you are in business. These cranes help us to be even further in business,” Holness said in his first comment on the shipping industry’s role in Jamaica bouncing back from Hurricane Melissa which hit the western section of the island on October 28.

Holness said the devastation to the island and the shipping and logistics industries should not daunt the nation as it is an opportunity to build back stronger and with more resilience.

“We have been struck by disaster but we continue to improve our efficiency and capacity in this very critical part of our economy, which is logistics. Melissa struck us a blow, but it has given us an opportunity to make the investments that will not just recover what was destroyed but to reconstruct a better and more resilient facility with even greater capacity.

“We will use the opportunity that Melissa has brought to expand and finance the expansion of our ports in a resilient way. We have taken the lesson of Melissa. We need to build for more intense and frequent weather events that could create damage to the balance sheet of Jamaica,” added Holness.

He argued that, for the economy to boom and continue booming, Jamaica must simple things efficiently.

“We will have to be able to move cargo off ships to the shipyard, on to other ships, or to a final destination faster than anyone else. That essentially is what it means to be a logistics hub. I don’t want to just be moving things off ships and then to another ship.

“There is another element which would be nearshore operations. This is moving goods produced and assembled to a ship to elsewhere. If we can get very good at this, then people shipping goods can look at Jamaica and say, ‘there is this great efficiency. I can save a few dollars off every container ship if I stop in Jamaica, move them and place them on another ship’,” said Holness.

The cranes form part of a long-term modernisation programme anchored by more than US$600 million in investment during KFTL’s first decade of concession.

CEO of KFTL Carlos Cabrera underscored the strategic importance of the new cranes to capacity, service performance, and worker safety.

“Today marks a significant milestone in Jamaica’s maritime development. These cranes represent our long-term commitment to Jamaica, to our customers, and to our employees,” said Cabrera.

He noted that KFTL’s volumes have grown over 55 per cent since 2021, with throughput expected to reach 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) this year.

Cabrera said the cranes will support even faster vessel turnaround and improve service.

The equipment is outfitted with the region’s most advanced safety technology, including integrated laser anti-collision systems, ship-profile scanning, straddle-carrier positioning systems, and a dedicated lashing platform to keep workers outside high-risk zones.