California-based Port of Oakland will raise four massive gantry cranes 26 feet higher through a USD 13.95 million project in order to welcome ever bigger megaships.

The taller cranes, located at Oakland International Container Terminal, will be able to reach 141 feet above the dock.

Scheduled to begin in April, the work will be performed on four 13-year-old cranes each weighing 1,380 tons.

The cranes will be supported by jacking frames while their legs are cut away and replaced with new, longer ones, to be fabricated by Shanghai-based ZPMC, manufacturer of the cranes.

It will take 10 to 12 weeks to lift each crane, the port said.

“The big ships come here on a regular basis,” said Port of Oakland Maritime Director John Driscoll. “This equips us to take on more of them as shipping lines continue to scale up.”

According to the port, after the project is completed, they will have the height to load and unload ships with capacity up to 14,000 20-foot containers.

Port of Oakland’s cranes can lift as much as 65 tons of containerized cargo. Once they are modified, they will be able to reach three rows of containers higher on a ship.

The port’s five marine terminals operate with 33 cranes, eight of which are tall enough to reach atop the biggest ships in Oakland.