History / Inspiration
The Port of Oakland was the first major port on the Pacific coast to build terminals for container ships. At first, the port was just two feet deep, but it was soon dredged to make way for the world's biggest ships. It is now the fourth busiest container port in the United States, handling approximately 2.24 million containers a year. Every day and every night ships arrive at our borders with goods from all over the world.
Once a ship is docked and ready, a crane can unload 15,000 containers in a matter of hours. The beauty of our cranes lies in the way they steadfastly stand on the old east bay mudflats, waiting, watching, and guarding these precious shores. They are a link to the past, to Oakland's first great industry. But they are more, they are also a link to Oakland's future, a path to market for new industries and products not yet dreamed of. This is why we wear containers on our hearts and cranes on our backs, because they've carried us so long on theirs.
About the designer
