Patent ID: 7370768

Claim:
A method for transshipping containers from a vessel moored alongside a foundation to over-the-ground vehicles without ground placement of the containers, the method comprising the steps of: unloading containers from a vessel moored alongside a foundation using a parent crane that is displaceable on a trackway lengthwise along the foundation and placing some containers on a first platform affixed to the parent crane and placing other containers on a second platform of the parent crane; transferring containers that were placed by the parent crane on the first platform directly onto over-the-ground vehicles, without intervening ground placement of the containers, using a sibling crane that is displaceable independently of the parent crane lengthwise along the foundation at ground level beneath the parent crane; and transferring containers that were placed by the parent crane on the second platform directly onto another vessel moored alongside the foundation or directly onto over-the-ground vehicles, without intervening ground placement of the containers, using the parent crane.