Norfolk International Terminals has received six rail-mounted gantry cranes for its North Berth, adding a major piece of equipment to the Port of Virginia’s ongoing terminal upgrade. Purchased in 2023 and built by Finland-based Konecranes, the cranes are part of a package costing nearly $150 million.
The North Berth is planned to have 36 rail-mounted gantry cranes when work is complete, according to Maritime Executive. The upgrade also includes ship-to-shore cranes and a reconfigured container yard, WAVY.com reports.
A Yard Designed for Bigger Ships and Faster Turnarounds
The new cranes and redesigned yard are intended to increase container-stacking density and improve terminal productivity, Maritime Executive reports. The investment is also aimed at accommodating changes in the vessels serving Virginia. Port of Virginia CEO and executive director Sarah J. McCoy told WAVY.com that ocean carriers are expected to put newer, larger ships into service over the next few years.
McCoy said carriers can bring larger vessels to Virginia without concerns about channel depth and width, rail capacity or the terminal’s ability to handle them, WAVY.com reports. The port’s channels are 55 feet deep. Maritime Executive reported that nearly one-fourth of the 1,497 container-ship calls to the port over the previous 12 months involved vessels larger than 11,000 TEUs.
Timeline Questions and a Project Nearing Its Final Stretch
Published completion dates differ slightly: Maritime Executive puts the finish in spring 2027, while the Port of Virginia has scheduled completion for mid-2027. McCoy told WAVY.com that construction is beyond the halfway point and equipment deliveries are nearing their end.
The North Berth is the remaining major project in the modernization of the port’s primary container terminals, and McCoy said it remains on time and on budget, according to WAVY.com. Maritime Executive reports that the North Berth is expected to add annual capacity of 1.4 million TEUs; together, the North and South berths at Norfolk International Terminals are expected to have capacity for 3.6 million TEUs a year.
How the Pieces Fit Together
The North Berth project is just one layer of a broader buildout. The Port of Virginia has also completed a $450 million channel-deepening effort that brought the harbor to 55 feet, according to the Port of Virginia. Once North Berth construction is complete, the port's overall annual throughput capacity is expected to reach 5.8 million TEUs, the port authority says. The port has also pointed to increasing capabilities at the Central Rail Yard at Norfolk International Terminals as part of the wider upgrade effort, WAVY.com reports.
How the New Capacity Compares With Past Projects
The available historical figures offer a portwide benchmark, rather than a decade-long series for Norfolk International Terminals alone. The Port of Virginia reported processing 3.5 million TEUs across the port in FY24, up 2% from FY23, according to its FY24 report. That throughput measure is not directly comparable to the projected North Berth capacity of 1.4 million TEUs a year or the 3.6 million TEUs expected for the North and South berths combined; the reported figures do not establish how NIT’s annual volumes changed over the past decade. A separate South Berth project provides a local precedent: Maritime Logistics Professional reported that two cranes arrived at NIT South as the final equipment for its $450 million optimization project. On neighborhood traffic, the Port of Virginia’s 2018 sustainability report said the separate I-564 Intermodal Connector removed more than 700 trucks a day from Norfolk’s secondary streets. That figure documents the connector’s reported effect, not traffic impacts from the North Berth cranes.
Recent cargo figures provide one measure of the port’s activity, though they do not by themselves show the effect of the North Berth work. From January through May of this year, the Port of Virginia handled 1.13 million loaded TEUs, up 2.5% from the same period in 2025, according to AJOT. That report said loaded volumes fell over the period at New York/New Jersey, Savannah and Charleston. Separately, WWD reported that the port handled roughly 3.23 million TEUs in 2025, an 8.1% decline from the prior year.
McCoy told WAVY.com that the port is preparing for future growth while continuing to serve current customers. The six cranes are one element of that plan, alongside the yard, berth, channel and rail improvements.
