Unalaska, AK – A new, larger crane slated for use by Horizon Lines at the city dock arrived in Dutch Harbor on a barge this morning.

The crane can handle 40 long tons, which is 10 more than the current Horizon crane, and its slightly longer boom will allow the crane to load an additional row of containers on the larger freighters that take on cargo in Dutch Harbor.

The crane was bought in Long Beach, California, and was supposed to make the journey to Dutch Harbor by September 27. But Horizon Dutch Harbor Terminal Manager Mike Lynch says the barge was delayed in the port of Oakland, where the crane had to be resecured.

Horizon's current crane was brought over from the Taiwanese port of Kaohsiung two decades ago, when the Unalaska Marine Center was built. It will stay on as a backup for the new crane, which is still sitting on the barge that brought it here, moored at the Coast Guard dock.

Lynch says the new crane will probably be transferred onto land by Monday. Right now it's jockeying for space at a crowded city dock, where the Shell Oil drilling vessel Frontier Discoverer is currently tied up. Lynch says it will be moved nearer to the Horizon facility once the company's regularly scheduled freighter comes and goes tomorrow.