Port of Virginia North Berth Progresses with Arrival of New RTGs

[By Virginia Port Authority]

Calm seas and warm weather on Monday greeted a heavy-lift vessel and its load of six rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes as it made its way into the Norfolk Harbor and ultimately the North Berth of Norfolk International Terminals (NIT).

This load of cranes -- and their counterparts that arrived in 2025 -- are the centerpieces of a renovation and modernization project underway at the North Berth. The state-of-the-art cranes allow for the safe and efficient movement of cargo between the vessel, truck and rail.

The cranes, which were purchased in 2023, were manufactured by Finland-based Konecranes and are critical components of the North Berth’s modernization. When the North berth project is done, it will be served by 36 RMGs; the total cost of the crane package is nearly $150 million.

“We are well-past the half-way point of construction on the North Berth project and we are in the final phase of equipment delivery,” said Sarah J. McCoy, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. “The North Berth project is the last piece in the overall modernization of our primary container terminals and we are on-time and on-budget with the project.

“When you couple the modernization of the North Berth with our increasing capabilities at the Central Rail Yard [at NIT] and our 55-foot deep channels, it positions us for the future and for growth. We are telling our customers and the trade that The Port of Virginia is ready for the future right now.”

The North Berth project will expand and modernize the terminal and create the capacity to process 1.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually. When complete, NIT [North and South berths] will have the capacity to process 3.6 million TEUs annually; the project is set for completion in spring 2027.

The project includes new ship-to-shore cranes, which arrived in the spring, and a new container stack yard configured around the RMGs, both of which will be supported by the port’s workforce, its twenty-first century technology infrastructure and operating system. The new equipment combined with the reconfiguration is designed to allow for greater density in the container stacking operation and increased productivity.

“The industry is closely following our progress,” McCoy said. “Many of the ocean carriers calling Virginia today will put new, larger vessels into service during the next few years. We are telling them that they can bring those vessels to Virginia, today, without concern for channel depth and width, rail capacity or modern terminals that can process large amounts of cargo with consistent efficiency.”