Super Size Me

There are some questions you have to ask. Even if you know the answer.

When I was photographing the Port of Charleston’s Wando Welch facility in Mt. Pleasant, SC, I asked my escort if it would be possible to get on one of the cranes used to load and offload ships. I was totally floored by her response.

“Let me check.”

In a few minutes our tour guide for this excursion, a crane supervisor, met us at the base of one of the cranes.

I was all set to start climbing the stairs to the top, after all, it was my brilliant idea. When to my surprise, and the answer to my quick prayers, the door to an elevator opened at the base of the crane. The elevator was a welcome relief, but just try stuffing three people into one.

From atop the crane, you get an idea of how big this facility really is. The containers look like little building boxes stacked in neat little rows throughout the complex; jockey trucks weaving their way around the ever constantly changing maze.

This was the first time my escort and I had ever been on a crane this size and we both welcomed the chance to step inside the cab of a Super post-Panamax crane and watch the operator work his magic.

I’m not that afraid of heights. Having worked about 300 feet above the Georgia Dome floor installing lights for a basketball game, you get accustomed really quick. Because the only thing that separates you from a 300 foot triple axle with a one and a half twist is a metal grate with holes big enough to almost slip through.

But walking into the cab made me a little uncomfortable.

Half the floor was made of very clear lexan.

You could see everything below from there. Which I guess is the point.

The operator moves the crane back and forth using a couple of joysticks as he grabs a container from the ship, raises it about a hundred feet in the air and drops it precisely on the back of a jockey truck.

The entire time I watching this guy and taking pictures, the only thing I can think of is how good he must be at the crane game at the arcade. His house must look like a reproduction of Noah’s Ark with all the stuffed animals he’s lifted from those machines.

Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s banned for life from the games at Chuck E. Cheese.

This crane is one of ten the port operates at the Wando Welch terminal: 6 are Super post-Panamax and 4 are post-Panamax.

A post-Panamax crane is capable of loading or unloading a ship that is too wide to pass through the Panama Canal. It generally has the reach to remove up to 18 rows of containers.

Now, the Super post-Panamax is the big daddy. Just like the post-Panamax crane, it is made for ships that are too wide to pass through the Panama Canal. But it’s reach is about 22 rows of containers and it has a lifting capacity of about 65 tons. It’s also about 180 feet tall and the boom is over 400 feet long, well over the size of a football field.

With these cranes, super truly is an understatement.