Bids on the gantry crane were set to be open before now but authority officials decided to wait until today (October 8 2007) in order to respond to numerous questions raised by bidders.
Delays have slowed the crane bidding and procurement process for more than a year. With a two-year lead time required for construction and delivery of a gantry crane, the port is facing an ever-tightening deadline to have at least one new crane operating before the 2010 start of construction activities related to the planned $13 billion relocation of 8,000 US marines and 9,000 dependents from Okinawa to Guam.
The military build-up, which will include a missile defense task force and see the construction of a new wharf to handle visits by aircraft carrier groups, will require at least one modern gantry crane to supplement the two aging cranes now operating at the port, each more than 24 years old. The port had originally asked for bids including an option to buy a second new crane, but the option clause was removed from the bid request in August.
Businesses on the island are also concerned that without the new crane, a breakdown of one of the two existing cranes could hobble a local economy that is working feverishly to prepare for the upcoming military build-up.
