(This story was updated Nov. 15 with the latest information.)
MANITOWOC – Manitowoc’s two big blue cranes appear to be on the move but likely to remain in the city a little while longer than first expected.
A small crowd turned out for the possibility one of the two 200-foot-tall cranes, “Big Blue 70,” may ship out at around 7 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 — but the cranes will now instead potentially move early Monday morning, Nov. 17, when winds are expected to be more favorable, according to online chatter. Winds Saturday were to be 10-12 mph versus 5-6 mph early Monday.
The Herald Times Reporter has not been able to confirm when the cranes will be transported, but activity around the cranes starting late Friday and continuing Saturday indicate they will be moving soon.
The U.S. Navy decides when the cranes ship. The cranes were finished in late 2023 and have been parked in the Wisconsin (formerly Broadwind) Heavy Fabrication docking area waiting to travel by barge to faraway U.S. Navy shipyards. They are part of a U.S. Navy contract and will be used to service submarine fleets. Their departure had been delayed after they were originally expected to ship in 2024.
The big blue cranes have been affectionately nicknamed ‘Manitowoc’s skyscrapers’ by some.
At 200 feet tall, the cranes are approximately 20 stories tall and have been nicknamed “Manitowoc’s skyscrapers.”
The cranes were designed and contracted by the Finnish company Konecranes, and components were made by Broadwind, since renamed Wisconsin Heavy Fabrication. One will go to Washington state and the other to Hawaii. They will travel through the Great Lakes and then along the East Coast on the Atlantic. They will pass through the Panama Canal, and then either up to the Pacific Northwest or to the Hawaiian Islands, Brett Hartman, director of business development for Broadwind, previously told the Herald Times Reporter.
‘Big Blue’ was the original crane built in Manitowoc in 2021.
These are the second and third cranes built in Manitowoc after the first, “Big Blue,” was constructed in 2021.
Big Blue became a local social media hit, with fans showing up on shore to watch her on her way or keeping track of her location online. She even won the annual Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest that year. The original “Big Blue” traveled slowly by barge for a few weeks through the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway and into the Atlantic Ocean.
Broadwind agreed to sell its industrial fabrication operations in Manitowoc this past June and is now Wisconsin Heavy Fabrication.
In June, Illinois-based Broadwind announced it had agreed to sell its industrial fabrication operations in Manitowoc for not less than $13 million.
Broadwind President and CEO Eric Blashford said in the announcement that consolidating the site was expected to reduce operating costs by about $8 million per year and improve the utilizations across the rest of the company’s operations.
Since the sale, the company’s name is now Wisconsin Heavy Fabrication.
The big blue cranes harken to the Manitowoc community’s long shipbuilding history. During World War II, the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company built 28 submarines for the U.S. Navy.
Contact Brandon Reid at breid@usatodayco.com. Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@usatodayco.com or call 920-606-2575.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc’s big blue cranes did not ship Nov. 15 but may move early Nov. 17
Reporting by Brandon Reid and Patti Zarling, Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter / Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
