The ship (Zhen Hua 26) carrying the new giant, ship-to-shore crane for the Port of Oakland is tentatively scheduled to sail in the early morning from Drakes Bay near Pt. Reyes, to a location west of the Golden Gate Bridge, Thursday, June 24, 2021. At approximately 4:30 a.m. a San Francisco Bar Pilot will board the Zhen Hua 26 several miles outside the “Gate” and navigate the vessel into the S.F. Bay and the Port of Oakland.
The ship is expected to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge at roughly 5:30 a.m. just before sunrise to take advantage of a very low tide. The crane is expected to clear the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge by ten feet or more.
The vessel will continue on to the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge and sail under that span at approximately 6:15 a.m. with five or more feet of clearance. The CHP will run a brief rolling stop on the bridge in both directions as a safety precaution.
The Zhen Hua 26 will go directly to berth at the Ben E. Nutter terminal at the Port of Oakland. The marine terminal is operated by Everport Terminal Services (ETS) which purchased the new crane for its cargo operations at Oakland. (Please note that there will be no media access to the terminal.)
The Zhen Hua 26 is anchoring out in Drakes Bay for a couple of days so that the crew can lower the boom on the crane. The boom in the stowage position (pointing upward) as it traveled across the Pacific Ocean from China, is more than 300 feet high. It has to be lowered, closer to a horizontal position, so that the crane will fit under the bridges.
Again, this is a tentative schedule as weather and other factors could alter the time frame for the crane delivery.
