When will the big blue cranes ship to the Pacific Ocean?

MANITOWOC – No one knows when those giant blue cranes manufactured in the heart of Manitowoc will be heading to their new homes at U.S. Navy shipyards.

But we do know they won’t ship in 2024.

Many of you will remember “Big Blue,” the giant blue crane manufactured at Broadway Heavy Fabrications 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.

Construction of two more cranes, both 200 feet tall, finished up late last year, and they now await their shipment by barge to faraway shipyards.

“We don’t have any definitive ship dates as of yet,” Brett Hartman, director of business development for Broadwind, told the Herald Times Reporter. “But we do know they will not ship yet this year.”

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In June, Hartman said the company hoped to hear something from the Navy in the next 30 to 60 days. The Navy will determine when the cranes are moved.

“Big Blue” became a popular sensation and was named the Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin in a contest hosted by Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce two years ago.

The cranes were designed and contracted by the Finnish company Konecranes, and components were made by Broadwind. They are part of a U.S. Navy contract and will be used to service submarine fleets.

Once completed, 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.

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The $55 million crane arrived at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, near the border of New Hampshire. The crane could lift twice the weight of other cranes at the Naval yard.

The two new cranes will also travel to Naval ship yards via barge, but this time to the Pacific Ocean.

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, according to Hartman.

“This is a very unique product,” Hartman said last year. “We’re proud that something like this is built in Manitowoc, and proud to be part of the project.”

These cranes are used to service submarines, so in a way harken to the community’s long shipbuilding history. During World War II, the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company built 28 submarines for the U.S. Navy.

Got a tip, question or comment for Streetwise Manitowoc? Contact reporter Patti Zarling at pzarling@gannett.com or call 920-606-2575. Follow her on X @PGPattiZarling and on Instagram @PGPatti.

This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: When will the big blue cranes ship to the Pacific Ocean?