"U.S. defense and national security officials are raising the alarm about the possibility that the Chinese-made giant cargo cranes in American ports are being used for espionage. Some U.S. officials see the China-made ship-to-shore cranes as a trojan horse, according to the Wall Street Journal. The outlet noted that the inexpensive cranes, manufactured by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., allegedly contain "sophisticated sensors that can register and track the provenance and destination of containers," prompting fears that it could capture information about materials used by the U.S. military. Bill Evanina, a former director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), suggested that the Chinese cranes could be used to disrupt the flow of goods. "Cranes can be the new Huawei," Evanina said. The Chinese Embassy in Washington dismissed the alleged espionage through port cargo cranes, calling the U.S. officials' concerns "paranoia-driven."
In 2021, a classified assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) found that China could throttle port traffic or spy on military equipment shipped at U.S. ports. In the same year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) searched a cargo ship containing ZPMC cranes at the Baltimore port. According to the people familiar with the matter, they found intelligence-gathering equipment on board."
https://www.ibtimes.com/us-concerned-china-made-cranes-american-ports-used-spy-military-report-3673964