By Pacific Island Times News Staff
One of the three gantry cranes operated by the Port Authority of Guam has been taken offline beginning Jan. 11 through Jan. 23 for preventive maintenance being conducted by the Equipment Maintenance and Repair Division.
Port officials said the cranes have not undergone preventative maintenance since they were acquired in 2012.
“We would like to assure our community that we do not anticipate any prolonged delays resulting from this preventative effort," said Port General Manager Rory J. Respicio.
“Operationally, we have arrived at this point where we can focus on the preventative maintenance of the port’s assets to extend its service life,” he added.
Gantry crane No. 6 will undergo the following work: trolley rail repair, APEX legs corrosion control, maintenance on gantry drives, rental crane assistance for APEX legs, and corrosion control on boom splice plates.
"The decision to conduct the maintenance on gantry crane No. 6 results from collaboration and synergy within the Port’s Operations and Maintenance Divisions and a greater relationship with the Port User’s Group," Respicio said.
"This management decision ensures crane throughput and longevity so that the Port Authority of Guam does not become a choke point for discharging and deploying military and civilian assets and 90 percent of all commodities coming through our island’s only deep-water commercial port," he added.
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Officials said the management and the users group mutually agreed on the scheduled maintenance and downtime for gantry repairs.
The port management said it does not anticipate extraordinary delays as a result of the scheduled maintenance.
On Aug. 23, 2021, Respicio named Port Operations Manager Glenn B. Nelson to serve concurrently as deputy maintenance manager without additional compensation.
“This move was necessary because of the retirement of the Port’s two top managers, Ernest Candoleta and Jorge Javelosa, leaving a void in the leadership and the need to merge Operations Division with Maintenance Division to provide more effective communication and collaboration between these two critical divisions," Respicio said.
“As such, we are grateful for Mr. Nelson’s willingness to step up and help bridge this gap operationally, albeit temporarily, and to help us identify and implement a long-term solution,” he added.
Since Nelson’s oversight of both the operations and maintenance divisions, the port has accomplished the following:
Realignment of functions in the form of merging the two divisions;
Streamlined decision-making as it relates to the use of equipment against vessel operations;
Ensured the availability of equipment;
Direct connection between these two divisions, as they are both interdependent of one another;
Provide for structured maintenance of gantries that will be performed quarterly; and
Facilitate the relationship between the two divisions.
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