FOCUS: Area students name five cranes at new terminal

Pictured from left are: SC Ports COO Barbara Melvin, Jaden Warren, Corbin Pritchard, Noah Cowell, Promise Washington, Rashard Davis and Jordi Yarborough, SC Ports’ Senior Vice President of Community Engagement, as they celebrate names for new cranes at the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston. (Ports Authority Photo by English Purcell provided.)

Staff reports  |  What do these five names have in common — Nifty Lifty, Sir Lift-A-Lot, No Crane No Gain, South Craneolina and The Reel Steel?

Answer:  They’re the new names of five big ship-to-shore cranes at the S.C. Ports Authority’s Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston.

Each of the cranes was named as part of a “Name the Cranes” contest with area elementary students in third to fifth grades.  The winners represent five schools and four municipalities, including two schools in North Charleston, which is where Leatherman Terminal is located, according to the ports.

“South Carolina Ports enjoys partnering with local schools to engage students and connect them to our operations and workforce. Our Names the Cranes contest is a really special way for students to connect with the port,” said Barbara Melvin, chief operating officer of SC Ports. “Students always come up with creative names for our cranes, and we hope that it sparks a lifelong connection to the maritime industry for them.”

Winners include Promise Washington (Nifty Lifty), a third-grader at North Charleston Elementary School; Rashard Davis (Sir Lift-A-Lot), a fifth-grader at Fort Dorchester Elementary School in Summerville; Jaden Warren (No Crane No Gain), a fifth grader at  Drayton Hall Elementary School in West Ashley; Corbin Pritchard (South Craneolina), a fifth-grader at Westview Elementary School in Goose Creek; and Noah Cowell (The Reel Steel), a fifth-grader at Bowen’s Corner Elementary School in Hanahan.

The new terminal’s cranes, which lift cargo boxes off container ships, have 169 feet of lift height above the wharf deck and 228 feet of outreach. The electric cranes are capable of working the largest container ships calling the East Coast.

“We have some of the tallest ship-to-shore cranes on the East Coast deployed at the country’s first container terminal to open since 2009,” SC Ports President and CEO Jim Newsome said. “Our entire team is proud that these impressive pieces of cargo-handling equipment have a strong connection to South Carolina students through our Name the Cranes contest.”

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