The machines which marked a new era for Napier Port nearly 30 years ago have found a new home.
Yesterday the port's very first cranes were loaded onto a heavy lift ship, the Industrial Echo, ahead of a 17-day journey to Vietnam, where they have been sold.
The two cranes' arrival at the port - the first in 1990 - marked its change to a container terminal. In the years since Napier Port has grown to be New Zealand's fourth largest container port.
Several years ago they were replaced and have been in storage since.
A port spokeswoman said while it was great they were finally moving on, "there is a level of sentimental value attached with many of the senior crane operators learning their craft on the Gottwald cranes".