Another momentous milestone in the $205-million modernization project at Port Saint John.

Two new container cranes that arrived at the port back in January are now officially in use.

They began offloading containers from the Hapag-Lloyd Barcelona Express on Thursday morning.

“These two new cranes have transformed our skyline and today their use is our community’s first opportunity to see the potential for continued transformation of our region,” Craig Bell Estabrooks, the port’s president and CEO, said in a news release.

“We are growing and modernizing and we’re bringing the community of Saint John and the whole of New Brunswick along with us by stimulating the creation of more jobs on the waterfront and in the transportation, logistics, and warehousing sectors.”

Officials have said the added cranes will double the port’s capacity to move containers from ship to shore.

The new additions are part of a “historic” investment announced in June 2022 by DP World for its container terminal at Port Saint John.

According to the company, the additional cranes will allow two container vessels to be handled simultaneously. They can service vessels with a capacity between 10,000 and 14,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs).

“DP World is proud to partner with Port Saint John in creating a more competitive and modern Atlantic gateway,” said Maksim Mihic, CEO and general manager of DP World (Canada) Inc.

“This investment strengthens Canada’s supply chain by offering more options and global market access for local goods.”

Officials said the capacity added by these new cranes will further solidify the port’s “advantageous geographic position” as a vital transportation hub.

Saint John is the only Atlantic Canadian port with rail optionality, connecting to three Class I railways — CN, CPKC (Canadian Pacific Kansas City) and CSX. The three networks extend coast to coast and across the continent, taking the port’s inland reach into North America and as far as Mexico.

Port Saint John is working to increase its capacity more than five-fold over the coming years.

More than 150,000 TEUs moved through the port in 2022 and officials are targeting a capacity of 800,000 TEUs within the next two years.