Port of Longview commissioners agreed to buy a second mobile harbor crane, a purchase that port officials say could help them better compete to unload imported oil refinery equipment needed for a Midwest oil boom.
The port bought its first Liebherr crane in 2008 for $4.7 million to unload large wind-energy equipment imports, which had started booming. Port officials say they lost out on some of that business to the Port of Vancouver, however, because they only had one crane, which meant it took longer to unload the equipment (the Port of Vancouver has two mobile harbor cranes).