HMM-Operated Tacoma Terminal to Undergo $135 Million Crane Expansion
Key Takeaways
- •Washington United Terminals has signed a contract with HD Hyundai Samho for four new cranes as part of a $135 million total investment.
- •The equipment upgrade will increase WUT's annual capacity from 590,000 TEUs to 880,000 TEUs, representing an approximately 49% rise.
- •The project involves replacing two aging quay cranes and adding two new yard cranes, with delivery scheduled for 2028 and full completion expected in 2030.
- •The investment is supported by the ILWU labor agreement concluded in 2023, which runs through 2028 and has restored labor certainty for Pacific Northwest terminals.
- •The expansion aligns with the trans-Pacific trend of vessel upsizing, where liner operators increasingly deploy ships of 13,000 TEUs and above.
The Port of Tacoma's Washington United Terminals (WUT) has signed a contract with South Korea's HD Hyundai Samho for four new cranes, marking a significant equipment upgrade at the U.S. West Coast facility.
Opened in 1999, WUT is operated by HMM (formerly Hyundai Merchant Marine) (011200.KS) of Seoul, the world's eighth-largest container liner operator. HMM and HD Hyundai Samho are separate companies operating within different corporate groups.
"Equipped with an on-dock rail system for handling rail cars, the terminal offers excellent inland logistics connectivity, creating strong synergies with our U.S. West Coast routes," HMM said in an announcement.
Under the agreement, WUT will replace two aging quay cranes and add two new yard cranes. The upgrade is designed to enable the terminal to accommodate large containerships and boost annual capacity from 590,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 880,000 TEUs, a roughly 49% increase. WUT does not publicly disclose its annual terminal throughput.
The investment comes as U.S. West Coast ports work to recapture trans-Pacific cargo share that shifted to East Coast and Gulf Coast gateways during pandemic-era congestion and the protracted International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract negotiations that concluded in 2023. The new ILWU agreement, running through 2028, has restored labor certainty for Pacific Northwest terminals, supporting multiyear capital commitments like the WUT crane project.
The capacity expansion also aligns with the broader industry trend of vessel upsizing on trans-Pacific trades, where liner operators increasingly deploy vessels of 13,000 TEUs and above. HMM itself operates a fleet that includes 23,000-TEU-class megamax vessels on Asia–Europe services and has ordered new 13,000-TEU-class ships for delivery later in the decade, underscoring the need for terminal partners equipped to handle deeper drafts and wider vessel beams.
The Northwest Seaport Alliance, in a release reported by local media, stated that the overall WUT investment totals $135 million. Crane delivery is scheduled for 2028, with full project completion anticipated in 2030.
The Port of Tacoma is part of the Northwest Seaport Alliance, a joint port development authority formed by the ports of Tacoma and Seattle in 2015. The partnership oversees cargo operations across the harbor and serves as a key gateway for trans-Pacific trade, ranking among the largest container gateways on the North American West Coast.
