Hutchison Ports - Hutchison Ports Sydney welcomes new quay cranes at Port Botany

Hutchison Ports Sydney has strengthened its Port Botany container terminal operations with the arrival this week of two large new Quay Cranes.

Hutchison says the new cranes have been designed to handle the "container ships of the future", including vessels with capacity exceeding 15,000 TEU.

The cranes are capable of servicing vessels with a beam of 23 containers wide and can reach container stacks of more than nine high on deck.

The upgrade represents a significant increase in terminal capability. Hutchison's existing quay cranes have a reach of 55 metres, while the new cranes provide an outreach of 79 metres.

The cranes were transported from Asia aboard specially modified crane-carrying vessels.

Hutchison Ports Australia chief executive John Willy said the arrival of the two additional quay cranes would "extend the capability of the port and position New South Wales for the future".

"Shipping lines on the Australia trade will have more options to deploy larger ships which have greater efficiency and higher economies of scale," Mr Willy said.

"The largest container ships currently in service to Australia are around 9000 TEU capacity. The new Hutchison Ports cranes will be able to handle ships 50% bigger again."

The cranes were manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co, ZPMC, the world's largest crane manufacturer.