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As a ship carrying four immense, new con-tainer cranes to the Port of Wilmington makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean, the infrastruc-ture upgrades they require are nearly complete. “These infrastructure improvements, which took more than a year to complete, accommo-date four 100-foot gauge cranes that are capa-ble of handling the largest ships that can navi-gate the Cape Fear River’s 42-foot channel,” said Thomas J. Eagar, CEO of the North Carolina State Ports Authority. “The cranes are the key components of Wilm-ington’s five-year, $143 million container termi-nal expansion,” Mr. Eagar said. “With the 42- foot shipping channel, berth improvements, new reach stackers and new cranes, the Port of Wilm-ington’s expansion program over the next three years will nearly triple our capacity based on current volumes.” STEM TO STERN The Monthly Newsletter of the North Carolina State Ports Authority Board Update Page 2 State of the Ports: Expansions Continue Pages 4 - 5 Morehead City Welcomes Marines Page 7 Where in the World Are the Cranes? Page 8 JANUARY 2007 Port development moves ahead Additional improvements in terminal opera-tions and more open paved storage areas will boost the capacity of Wilmington’s container ter-minal to 400,000 20-foot equivalent units annu-ally. Upgrades to the Port’s two container-ship berths, 8 and 9, included the addition of 100- foot gauge crane rail at Berth 9, finished in De-cember by T.A. Loving of Goldsboro, N.C., at a cost of $4.3 million. Another $3.9 million of im-provements to the existing waterside rail and the fendering system by Precon Construction of Ches-apeake, Va., are nearing completion. The power-distribution system for the cranes, which unlike the current diesel cranes run on commercial power, cost $3.2 million and is ex-pected to be finished by King Electric of Fay-etteville, N.C., at the end of January. The Zhen Hua 16 leaves Shanghai, China, Dec. 2 with the Port of Wilmington’s four new container cranes. See page 2 for information about the voyage. Continued on page 6 Here come the cranes! JANUARY 2007 PAGE 2 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN STEM TO STERN The Monthly Newsletter of the North Carolina State Ports Authority JANUARY 2007 Stem to Stern is an electronic newsletter published by the North Carolina State Ports Authority. It is available on the Ports Authority website in Portable Document Format for online reading or printing by the reader: www.ncports.com Editorial content is edited, prepared, and provided by the Communications and Human Resources teams of the Ports Authority. Tom Eagar ...................... Chief Executive Officer Karen Fox .... Senior Communications Director Rick Koch .......... Vice President, Administration Susan Clizbe ..............Communications Manager Susan Pridgen .......................... Communications Adrienne Wright ................... Human Resources BOARD OF DIRECTORS Carl J. Stewart Jr., Chair ............Gastonia J. Brynn Thomas, Vice Chair ....New Bern Jesse S. Capel ....................................Troy John Curry ............................... Charlotte Jim Fain ........................................Raleigh Jeff D. Etheridge Jr. .................Whiteville Derryl Garner ..........................Newport Alex MacFadyen Jr. .....................Raleigh Greg Plemmons ................. Greensboro Robert Wicker ................... Greensboro Laura Wilson .......................Wilmington N.C. State Ports Authority P.O. Box 9002 Wilmington, NC 28402 (910) 343-6482 NCports_PR@ncports.com www.ncports.com BOARD REPORT Board members visit new port site N.C. State Ports Authority Board of Directors members (from left) Mayor Derryl Garner of Newport, Laura Wilson of Wilmington, Brynn Thomas of New Bern and Jeff Etheridge of Whiteville tour the site of the proposed North Carolina International Port. The port is planned for a 600-acre site, zoned heavy industrial, purchased by the Authority in early 2006. Initial plans call for a container terminal with four berths, which will catapult North Carolina to the forefront of East Coast container ports, and the accompanying economic and industrial development. In the first year, the Authority has taken significant steps toward developing the port. CH2M Hill, a firm with extensive experience in similar projects, has been retained to manage the development process. Photo by Stephanie Ayers Photo by Susan Clizbe Chairman, CEO meet with local ILA leaders North Carolina State Ports Authority Board Chairman Carl J. Stewart Jr., second from right, and Ports CEO Tom Eagar, third from left, meet with leaders of the International Longshoreman’s Association. From left, Wilbert Rowell of the South Atlantic and Gulf District, John Bellamy with Wilmington Local 1426, Michael Clemmons with Local 1838 in Southport, and Charles Seaton, Wilmington Local 1766. JANUARY 2007 PAGE 3 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN PORTS PEOPLE Key members of leadership team promoted Two members of the North Carolina State Ports Authority senior management team have been pro-moted. Rita Harris is now Director of Government Re-lations and Karen Fox, Senior Director of Communi-cations. “Their significant knowledge and experience serve us well at this historic point of development at North Carolina’s Ports,” said Ports Authority CEO Thomas J. Eagar in announcing the promotions. “Our $287 million port-expansion program at the Ports of More-head City and Wilmington is in high gear. And we are moving forward to create tremendous opportunities for economic development by developing the new North Carolina International Port in Brunswick County and a new port terminal on Radio Island in Carteret County. Rita and Karen continue to play crucial roles in garnering support for these critical strategic initia-tives.” Ms. Harris joined the Ports Authority in Septem-ber 2005 as government relations manager. She serves as an advocate for the Authority’s initiatives in Wash- Rita Harris Karen Fox N.C. General Assembly staff members tour the Port of Morehead City and Radio Island with Ports Board of Directors Government Relations chair Laura Wilson, front left, and Port of Morehead City Operations Director Rex Edwards, far right. From left in the middle row are Lesley Cates, Speaker’s office, and Kristine Leggett, Joy Hicks and Kristin Walker from fiscal research. In the rear are Layton Bedsole, Ports environmental director, Jim Klingler from fiscal research, and Mark Blake, Ports director of engineering. Photo by Rita Harris ington, D.C., and with the General Assembly and state agencies in Ra-leigh. “Rita works tirelessly in Raleigh and Washington, DC to garner sup-port for North Carolina’s Ports,” Mr. Eagar said, “and has successfully helped secure State and Federal fund-ing to support Ports’ expansion projects.” Before joining the Ports, Ms. Har-ris was a special assistant for the bud-get in the office of Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives James B. Black. She also served as staff assistant to the House Appropri-ations Committee and as legislative assistant to Rep. Thomas C. Hard-away. In Washington, D.C., she worked on Capitol Hill as administrative as-sistant and chief clerk to U.S. Rep. Claude Pepper, House Rules Com-mittee chairman, as financial manager for the House Committee on Aging, and as staff assistant to Sen. Floyd Haskell. She also was an executive assistant at Patton Boggs, one of the nation’s leading public-pol-icy law firms. Mrs. Fox joined the Ports Authority in 1989, most recently serving as director of communications. She oversees media relations, marketing materials and community and public relations functions for the Ports Authority. Under her leadership, the Authority developed one of the first websites in the port industry as well as strategic communications initiatives promoting the statewide economic benefits supported by the Ports’ cargo handling activities. “Karen will continue her close collaboration with the Authority’s Board of Directors and senior man-agement team to develop and execute public outreach strategies as the Authority moves forward with growth and expansion projects,” Mr. Eagar said. Before she joined the Ports Authority, Mrs. Fox worked at WECT-TV in Wilmington as promotions and programming director, reporter, news anchor, asso-ciate news director and community relations director. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Ports’ vital economic engines are in full throttle to build economic prosperity for citizens across the State – ad-ditional jobs, income and tax revenues. In the current 2007 budget, our State’s leaders – Governor Mike Easley and the General Assembly, thanks to the leadership of our local del-egation – recognized the impor-tance of the State’s Ports in the budget last year, investing a $7.5 million appropriation and $3 million in repair and renovation funding. Key Projects Progress The Port of Wilmington marks an important milestone in February. Four new 100-foot gauge container cranes, loaded onto a ship at the ZPMC facility in Shanghai, China, will be delivered in mid-February. These cranes are the linchpins of the $143 million container-terminal expansion, which includes significant upgrades to the dock infrastructure to support the cranes, which are electric rather than the traditional diesel power. A new terminal operating system is also being implemented. At the Port of Morehead City, construction began in October on a new 178,000- square-foot general cargo ware-house, expected to be ready for busi-ness in August 2007. A rail-improve-ment project is also complete. New rail has been installed, and road crossings were upgraded. The Port’s main access road, outside storage and truck parking areas are being repaved, to nearly double the amount of outside storage capacity adjacent to the entry road. We have updated our economic impact calculations this year. Busi-ness coming through your Ports now supports about 85,000 jobs and $299 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN State of the Ports 2006: Expansion Plans FROM THE CEO’S DESK by Thomas J. Eagar Chief Executive Officer After achieving record revenues in fiscal 2006, the North Carolina State Ports Authority is mov-ing forward aggressively to meet steadily increas-ing market demand. Major expansion projects at the State’s Ports at Wilmington and Morehead City will meet short-term demand, while contin-ued growth in international trade projected for the next 15 years is being addressed. Plans to develop a new terminal at Radio Island in More-head City and the North Carolina International Port in Brunswick County will meet the long-term demand. Continued market growth during fiscal 2006 drove container moves up 24 percent, and gen-eral cargo volumes up 13 percent at the Port of Wilmington, and breakbulk cargo at the Port of Morehead City rose 19 percent. With container tonnage included, the Authority's total volume for fiscal 2006 was 5.8 million tons. For fiscal 2007, we project a five-year com-pounded annual growth rate of 18 percent in container volume and 16 percent in general car-go numbers, although cyclical fluctuations in certain key commodities such as forest products and rubber have required adjustments to our market forecast. Conceptual drawing of new warehouse at Port of Morehead City Tom Eagar JANUARY 2007 PAGE 4 Continued on page 5 JANUARY 2007 PAGE 5 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN million a year in state and local tax revenues. Here in the Southeast region alone, Ports activi-ties support more than 21,000 jobs and nearly $100 million a year in tax revenues. Window of Opportunity North Carolina’s Ports have a tremendous window of opportunity to expand operations, in-crease business and profitability and create sig-nificant economic benefits to the State of North Carolina. With international trade projected to double by 2020, container traffic expected to grow even faster, and other East Coast ports running out of room, the Ports Authority took advantage of a golden opportunity. In April, we purchased 600 acres of industrial property on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, just four miles from the ocean, and intend to build a major international container port to capture that new business. The North Carolina International Port will cat-apult North Carolina into the ranks of major East Coast ports, giving our state the advantages al-ready made possible by major ports in neighbor-ing states: Virginia, South Carolina and Geor-gia. We are in the preliminary stages of planning the project, and have hired CH2M Hill, an inter-national engineering firm, to plan, de-sign and construct the new port. We expect this new port to serve the new, much-larger container ships be-ing built now to handle the tremendous growth in container traffic. In Decem-ber, the largest container ship ever to visit Wilmington arrived at our docks, moving into the regular rotation. The Ital Laguna holds 5,000 TEUs – 20- foot equivalent units. That’s big – but new ships being launched can carry 12,000 TEUs. The International Port will allow us to keep up with both the growth in demand and the growth in ship sizes. Most importantly, the International Port will enable our State to compete FROM THE CEO’S DESK more effectively for industrial development, like BMW and Daimler Chrysler in South Carolina and Airbus and Hyundai in Alabama. It will also attract distribution centers similar to those be-ing built for Ikea, Target and other major retail-ers at the Port of Savannah. All of those projects – bringing with them thousands of jobs – require a world-class port, and we plan to build that port for North Carolina. As other ports convert from bulk and break-bulk cargoes – steel, rubber, lumber, grain and similar products – to containers, these cargoes are looking for a home. Already profiting from this new business, the Ports Authority is looking across the Newport River from the Port of More-head City to Radio Island to accommodate even more. We are well on the way to building a new port terminal, with a site layout, traffic analysis, and environmental surveys in place. The Port of Wilmington’s profile may shift a little when the International Port opens, but it will stay busy – definitely with general cargo, and very likely with continuing service from smaller container ships. The time is right for North Carolina’s Ports to move to the forefront of East Coast ports. And we are ready, with the support of our communi-ties and our leaders, to make that move. Continue as Business Volumes Increase Continued from page 4 The site of the proposed North Carolina International Port JANUARY 2007 PAGE 6 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN Wilmington welcomes Ital Laguna on maiden voyage The 965-foot, 5,090-TEU capacity Ital Laguna clears the turning basin and heads for her berth at the Port of Wilmington Dec. 12. The visit, the second stop on the ship’s maiden voyage, marked the largest container ship to call at the Port. The four new container cranes are on their way from the ZPMC manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, and are expected to be delivered in mid-Feb-ruary. Linchpins of the Wilmington container termi-nal expansion, they can load 18 containers across a ship, compared to a maximum of 13 for the four ex-isting container cranes. Of the crane’s $33.4 million purchase price, $16.5 million was funded by appro-priations from the N.C. General Assembly. In addition to the new cranes, nine SMV reach stackers, with a price of $3.8 million, joined the Port of Wilmington’s fleet in 2005. The container-handling machines can stack containers five high, allowing maximum storage in a minimum footprint. Once the ship carrying the new cranes arrives at Berth 9, it will take more than a week to move them onto the dock. Installation, activation and testing of the cranes will take several weeks, putting them into service by the first of April. While the Port of Wilmington container terminal expansion will accommodate near-term growth, the Ports Authority is also working to address the expo- Continued from page 1 Photo by Susan Clizbe Wilmington container terminal expansion moves forward nential increase in market demand forecast over the next 10 to 15 years, with plans for a new port termi-nal on the west bank of the Cape Fear River in Brun-swick County. The proposed N.C. International Port is planned for a 600-acre site approximately four miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Initial plans envision a container ter-minal, with several times the capacity of Wilmington’s facility, and an industrial park on site for distribu-tion centers or related operations. The Ports Authority selected CH2M Hill, a global engineering design firm with offices in Raleigh, N.C., to manage the development process. Current work includes ongoing community outreach and the de-velopment of a business plan and financial strategy to take the project to construction. “By seizing the opportunity this property offers, we at the North Carolina State Ports Authority are confident our Ports will play a major role in supply-ing the shipping industry with much needed contain-er capacity for generations to come,” Mr. Eagar said. “And by meeting that need, we will also fulfill our main mission of economic development in North Carolina.” NEWS FROM THE PORTS JANUARY 2007 PAGE 7 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN Morehead City welcomes the USMC ... Equipment for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune rolls out of the belly of the USS Nashville at the Port of Morehead City in December. The unit returned from a 6-month tour which included combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and helping evacuate 15,000 Americans from Lebanon during tension there. ... and loads out lots of export fertilizer Photos by Susan Clizbe The Port of Morehead City’s bulk-handling shiploader fills the holds of the 623-foot Furness London - on her maiden voyage - with 29,000 tons of export diammonium phosphate for New Zealand. The cargo was part of a big year to date for the Port’s key customer, PCS Phosphate - 622,783 tons of phosphate were handled during the first five months of fiscal year 2007, through November. That’s a 40-percent increase over fiscal 2006. NEWS FROM THE PORTS JANUARY 2007 PAGE 8 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN NEWS FROM THE PORTS Materials Management completes relocation The Ports Authority’s Materials Management Department has completed the consolidation of its Wilmington operations into the new Materials Materials Management Building. Formerly know as the Cape Fear Music Building, it is located at 2508 Burnett Boulevard, between the Maritime Building and the Port of Wilmington’s south gate. In November, the Wilmington inventory and supply section, formerly housed in M-4 on the Port, joined the purchasing staff in the new lo-cation. “One feature of the relocation we think will be most useful is running a daily route through the Port of Wilmington to deliver materials” said John Robinson, materials manager. “We will try both afternoon and morning schedules to deter-mine which works best for the Port.” The Materials Management Department pro-cesses more than 11,000 inventory requests, 4,000 purchase orders and 50 bids annually. The consolidation will offer the department to enhance continuous improvement initiatives targeting pro-cess and efficiency improvements. “We look forward to the opportunities this con-solidation offers to improve our service, and thank you for your patience and cooperation dur-ing all the renovation, moving and consolidation,” Mr. Robinson said. “Our goal is to provide in-creased support to all Ports Authority depart-ments, at all locations.” Track the Port of Wilmington’s new cranes on the Ports Authority website at www.ncports.com Click on Where in the world are the Port of Wilmington’s new container cranes?
Object Description
Description
Title | North Carolina ports. |
Other Title | North Carolina State Ports Authority newsletter; Stem to stern; Monthly newsletter of the North Carolina State Ports Authority |
Date | 2007-01 |
Description | January 2007 |
Digital Characteristics-A | 1 MB, 8 p. |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Full Text | As a ship carrying four immense, new con-tainer cranes to the Port of Wilmington makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean, the infrastruc-ture upgrades they require are nearly complete. “These infrastructure improvements, which took more than a year to complete, accommo-date four 100-foot gauge cranes that are capa-ble of handling the largest ships that can navi-gate the Cape Fear River’s 42-foot channel,” said Thomas J. Eagar, CEO of the North Carolina State Ports Authority. “The cranes are the key components of Wilm-ington’s five-year, $143 million container termi-nal expansion,” Mr. Eagar said. “With the 42- foot shipping channel, berth improvements, new reach stackers and new cranes, the Port of Wilm-ington’s expansion program over the next three years will nearly triple our capacity based on current volumes.” STEM TO STERN The Monthly Newsletter of the North Carolina State Ports Authority Board Update Page 2 State of the Ports: Expansions Continue Pages 4 - 5 Morehead City Welcomes Marines Page 7 Where in the World Are the Cranes? Page 8 JANUARY 2007 Port development moves ahead Additional improvements in terminal opera-tions and more open paved storage areas will boost the capacity of Wilmington’s container ter-minal to 400,000 20-foot equivalent units annu-ally. Upgrades to the Port’s two container-ship berths, 8 and 9, included the addition of 100- foot gauge crane rail at Berth 9, finished in De-cember by T.A. Loving of Goldsboro, N.C., at a cost of $4.3 million. Another $3.9 million of im-provements to the existing waterside rail and the fendering system by Precon Construction of Ches-apeake, Va., are nearing completion. The power-distribution system for the cranes, which unlike the current diesel cranes run on commercial power, cost $3.2 million and is ex-pected to be finished by King Electric of Fay-etteville, N.C., at the end of January. The Zhen Hua 16 leaves Shanghai, China, Dec. 2 with the Port of Wilmington’s four new container cranes. See page 2 for information about the voyage. Continued on page 6 Here come the cranes! JANUARY 2007 PAGE 2 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN STEM TO STERN The Monthly Newsletter of the North Carolina State Ports Authority JANUARY 2007 Stem to Stern is an electronic newsletter published by the North Carolina State Ports Authority. It is available on the Ports Authority website in Portable Document Format for online reading or printing by the reader: www.ncports.com Editorial content is edited, prepared, and provided by the Communications and Human Resources teams of the Ports Authority. Tom Eagar ...................... Chief Executive Officer Karen Fox .... Senior Communications Director Rick Koch .......... Vice President, Administration Susan Clizbe ..............Communications Manager Susan Pridgen .......................... Communications Adrienne Wright ................... Human Resources BOARD OF DIRECTORS Carl J. Stewart Jr., Chair ............Gastonia J. Brynn Thomas, Vice Chair ....New Bern Jesse S. Capel ....................................Troy John Curry ............................... Charlotte Jim Fain ........................................Raleigh Jeff D. Etheridge Jr. .................Whiteville Derryl Garner ..........................Newport Alex MacFadyen Jr. .....................Raleigh Greg Plemmons ................. Greensboro Robert Wicker ................... Greensboro Laura Wilson .......................Wilmington N.C. State Ports Authority P.O. Box 9002 Wilmington, NC 28402 (910) 343-6482 NCports_PR@ncports.com www.ncports.com BOARD REPORT Board members visit new port site N.C. State Ports Authority Board of Directors members (from left) Mayor Derryl Garner of Newport, Laura Wilson of Wilmington, Brynn Thomas of New Bern and Jeff Etheridge of Whiteville tour the site of the proposed North Carolina International Port. The port is planned for a 600-acre site, zoned heavy industrial, purchased by the Authority in early 2006. Initial plans call for a container terminal with four berths, which will catapult North Carolina to the forefront of East Coast container ports, and the accompanying economic and industrial development. In the first year, the Authority has taken significant steps toward developing the port. CH2M Hill, a firm with extensive experience in similar projects, has been retained to manage the development process. Photo by Stephanie Ayers Photo by Susan Clizbe Chairman, CEO meet with local ILA leaders North Carolina State Ports Authority Board Chairman Carl J. Stewart Jr., second from right, and Ports CEO Tom Eagar, third from left, meet with leaders of the International Longshoreman’s Association. From left, Wilbert Rowell of the South Atlantic and Gulf District, John Bellamy with Wilmington Local 1426, Michael Clemmons with Local 1838 in Southport, and Charles Seaton, Wilmington Local 1766. JANUARY 2007 PAGE 3 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN PORTS PEOPLE Key members of leadership team promoted Two members of the North Carolina State Ports Authority senior management team have been pro-moted. Rita Harris is now Director of Government Re-lations and Karen Fox, Senior Director of Communi-cations. “Their significant knowledge and experience serve us well at this historic point of development at North Carolina’s Ports,” said Ports Authority CEO Thomas J. Eagar in announcing the promotions. “Our $287 million port-expansion program at the Ports of More-head City and Wilmington is in high gear. And we are moving forward to create tremendous opportunities for economic development by developing the new North Carolina International Port in Brunswick County and a new port terminal on Radio Island in Carteret County. Rita and Karen continue to play crucial roles in garnering support for these critical strategic initia-tives.” Ms. Harris joined the Ports Authority in Septem-ber 2005 as government relations manager. She serves as an advocate for the Authority’s initiatives in Wash- Rita Harris Karen Fox N.C. General Assembly staff members tour the Port of Morehead City and Radio Island with Ports Board of Directors Government Relations chair Laura Wilson, front left, and Port of Morehead City Operations Director Rex Edwards, far right. From left in the middle row are Lesley Cates, Speaker’s office, and Kristine Leggett, Joy Hicks and Kristin Walker from fiscal research. In the rear are Layton Bedsole, Ports environmental director, Jim Klingler from fiscal research, and Mark Blake, Ports director of engineering. Photo by Rita Harris ington, D.C., and with the General Assembly and state agencies in Ra-leigh. “Rita works tirelessly in Raleigh and Washington, DC to garner sup-port for North Carolina’s Ports,” Mr. Eagar said, “and has successfully helped secure State and Federal fund-ing to support Ports’ expansion projects.” Before joining the Ports, Ms. Har-ris was a special assistant for the bud-get in the office of Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives James B. Black. She also served as staff assistant to the House Appropri-ations Committee and as legislative assistant to Rep. Thomas C. Hard-away. In Washington, D.C., she worked on Capitol Hill as administrative as-sistant and chief clerk to U.S. Rep. Claude Pepper, House Rules Com-mittee chairman, as financial manager for the House Committee on Aging, and as staff assistant to Sen. Floyd Haskell. She also was an executive assistant at Patton Boggs, one of the nation’s leading public-pol-icy law firms. Mrs. Fox joined the Ports Authority in 1989, most recently serving as director of communications. She oversees media relations, marketing materials and community and public relations functions for the Ports Authority. Under her leadership, the Authority developed one of the first websites in the port industry as well as strategic communications initiatives promoting the statewide economic benefits supported by the Ports’ cargo handling activities. “Karen will continue her close collaboration with the Authority’s Board of Directors and senior man-agement team to develop and execute public outreach strategies as the Authority moves forward with growth and expansion projects,” Mr. Eagar said. Before she joined the Ports Authority, Mrs. Fox worked at WECT-TV in Wilmington as promotions and programming director, reporter, news anchor, asso-ciate news director and community relations director. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Ports’ vital economic engines are in full throttle to build economic prosperity for citizens across the State – ad-ditional jobs, income and tax revenues. In the current 2007 budget, our State’s leaders – Governor Mike Easley and the General Assembly, thanks to the leadership of our local del-egation – recognized the impor-tance of the State’s Ports in the budget last year, investing a $7.5 million appropriation and $3 million in repair and renovation funding. Key Projects Progress The Port of Wilmington marks an important milestone in February. Four new 100-foot gauge container cranes, loaded onto a ship at the ZPMC facility in Shanghai, China, will be delivered in mid-February. These cranes are the linchpins of the $143 million container-terminal expansion, which includes significant upgrades to the dock infrastructure to support the cranes, which are electric rather than the traditional diesel power. A new terminal operating system is also being implemented. At the Port of Morehead City, construction began in October on a new 178,000- square-foot general cargo ware-house, expected to be ready for busi-ness in August 2007. A rail-improve-ment project is also complete. New rail has been installed, and road crossings were upgraded. The Port’s main access road, outside storage and truck parking areas are being repaved, to nearly double the amount of outside storage capacity adjacent to the entry road. We have updated our economic impact calculations this year. Busi-ness coming through your Ports now supports about 85,000 jobs and $299 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN State of the Ports 2006: Expansion Plans FROM THE CEO’S DESK by Thomas J. Eagar Chief Executive Officer After achieving record revenues in fiscal 2006, the North Carolina State Ports Authority is mov-ing forward aggressively to meet steadily increas-ing market demand. Major expansion projects at the State’s Ports at Wilmington and Morehead City will meet short-term demand, while contin-ued growth in international trade projected for the next 15 years is being addressed. Plans to develop a new terminal at Radio Island in More-head City and the North Carolina International Port in Brunswick County will meet the long-term demand. Continued market growth during fiscal 2006 drove container moves up 24 percent, and gen-eral cargo volumes up 13 percent at the Port of Wilmington, and breakbulk cargo at the Port of Morehead City rose 19 percent. With container tonnage included, the Authority's total volume for fiscal 2006 was 5.8 million tons. For fiscal 2007, we project a five-year com-pounded annual growth rate of 18 percent in container volume and 16 percent in general car-go numbers, although cyclical fluctuations in certain key commodities such as forest products and rubber have required adjustments to our market forecast. Conceptual drawing of new warehouse at Port of Morehead City Tom Eagar JANUARY 2007 PAGE 4 Continued on page 5 JANUARY 2007 PAGE 5 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN million a year in state and local tax revenues. Here in the Southeast region alone, Ports activi-ties support more than 21,000 jobs and nearly $100 million a year in tax revenues. Window of Opportunity North Carolina’s Ports have a tremendous window of opportunity to expand operations, in-crease business and profitability and create sig-nificant economic benefits to the State of North Carolina. With international trade projected to double by 2020, container traffic expected to grow even faster, and other East Coast ports running out of room, the Ports Authority took advantage of a golden opportunity. In April, we purchased 600 acres of industrial property on the west bank of the Cape Fear River, just four miles from the ocean, and intend to build a major international container port to capture that new business. The North Carolina International Port will cat-apult North Carolina into the ranks of major East Coast ports, giving our state the advantages al-ready made possible by major ports in neighbor-ing states: Virginia, South Carolina and Geor-gia. We are in the preliminary stages of planning the project, and have hired CH2M Hill, an inter-national engineering firm, to plan, de-sign and construct the new port. We expect this new port to serve the new, much-larger container ships be-ing built now to handle the tremendous growth in container traffic. In Decem-ber, the largest container ship ever to visit Wilmington arrived at our docks, moving into the regular rotation. The Ital Laguna holds 5,000 TEUs – 20- foot equivalent units. That’s big – but new ships being launched can carry 12,000 TEUs. The International Port will allow us to keep up with both the growth in demand and the growth in ship sizes. Most importantly, the International Port will enable our State to compete FROM THE CEO’S DESK more effectively for industrial development, like BMW and Daimler Chrysler in South Carolina and Airbus and Hyundai in Alabama. It will also attract distribution centers similar to those be-ing built for Ikea, Target and other major retail-ers at the Port of Savannah. All of those projects – bringing with them thousands of jobs – require a world-class port, and we plan to build that port for North Carolina. As other ports convert from bulk and break-bulk cargoes – steel, rubber, lumber, grain and similar products – to containers, these cargoes are looking for a home. Already profiting from this new business, the Ports Authority is looking across the Newport River from the Port of More-head City to Radio Island to accommodate even more. We are well on the way to building a new port terminal, with a site layout, traffic analysis, and environmental surveys in place. The Port of Wilmington’s profile may shift a little when the International Port opens, but it will stay busy – definitely with general cargo, and very likely with continuing service from smaller container ships. The time is right for North Carolina’s Ports to move to the forefront of East Coast ports. And we are ready, with the support of our communi-ties and our leaders, to make that move. Continue as Business Volumes Increase Continued from page 4 The site of the proposed North Carolina International Port JANUARY 2007 PAGE 6 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN Wilmington welcomes Ital Laguna on maiden voyage The 965-foot, 5,090-TEU capacity Ital Laguna clears the turning basin and heads for her berth at the Port of Wilmington Dec. 12. The visit, the second stop on the ship’s maiden voyage, marked the largest container ship to call at the Port. The four new container cranes are on their way from the ZPMC manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China, and are expected to be delivered in mid-Feb-ruary. Linchpins of the Wilmington container termi-nal expansion, they can load 18 containers across a ship, compared to a maximum of 13 for the four ex-isting container cranes. Of the crane’s $33.4 million purchase price, $16.5 million was funded by appro-priations from the N.C. General Assembly. In addition to the new cranes, nine SMV reach stackers, with a price of $3.8 million, joined the Port of Wilmington’s fleet in 2005. The container-handling machines can stack containers five high, allowing maximum storage in a minimum footprint. Once the ship carrying the new cranes arrives at Berth 9, it will take more than a week to move them onto the dock. Installation, activation and testing of the cranes will take several weeks, putting them into service by the first of April. While the Port of Wilmington container terminal expansion will accommodate near-term growth, the Ports Authority is also working to address the expo- Continued from page 1 Photo by Susan Clizbe Wilmington container terminal expansion moves forward nential increase in market demand forecast over the next 10 to 15 years, with plans for a new port termi-nal on the west bank of the Cape Fear River in Brun-swick County. The proposed N.C. International Port is planned for a 600-acre site approximately four miles from the Atlantic Ocean. Initial plans envision a container ter-minal, with several times the capacity of Wilmington’s facility, and an industrial park on site for distribu-tion centers or related operations. The Ports Authority selected CH2M Hill, a global engineering design firm with offices in Raleigh, N.C., to manage the development process. Current work includes ongoing community outreach and the de-velopment of a business plan and financial strategy to take the project to construction. “By seizing the opportunity this property offers, we at the North Carolina State Ports Authority are confident our Ports will play a major role in supply-ing the shipping industry with much needed contain-er capacity for generations to come,” Mr. Eagar said. “And by meeting that need, we will also fulfill our main mission of economic development in North Carolina.” NEWS FROM THE PORTS JANUARY 2007 PAGE 7 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN Morehead City welcomes the USMC ... Equipment for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune rolls out of the belly of the USS Nashville at the Port of Morehead City in December. The unit returned from a 6-month tour which included combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and helping evacuate 15,000 Americans from Lebanon during tension there. ... and loads out lots of export fertilizer Photos by Susan Clizbe The Port of Morehead City’s bulk-handling shiploader fills the holds of the 623-foot Furness London - on her maiden voyage - with 29,000 tons of export diammonium phosphate for New Zealand. The cargo was part of a big year to date for the Port’s key customer, PCS Phosphate - 622,783 tons of phosphate were handled during the first five months of fiscal year 2007, through November. That’s a 40-percent increase over fiscal 2006. NEWS FROM THE PORTS JANUARY 2007 PAGE 8 www.ncports.com STEM TO STERN NEWS FROM THE PORTS Materials Management completes relocation The Ports Authority’s Materials Management Department has completed the consolidation of its Wilmington operations into the new Materials Materials Management Building. Formerly know as the Cape Fear Music Building, it is located at 2508 Burnett Boulevard, between the Maritime Building and the Port of Wilmington’s south gate. In November, the Wilmington inventory and supply section, formerly housed in M-4 on the Port, joined the purchasing staff in the new lo-cation. “One feature of the relocation we think will be most useful is running a daily route through the Port of Wilmington to deliver materials” said John Robinson, materials manager. “We will try both afternoon and morning schedules to deter-mine which works best for the Port.” The Materials Management Department pro-cesses more than 11,000 inventory requests, 4,000 purchase orders and 50 bids annually. The consolidation will offer the department to enhance continuous improvement initiatives targeting pro-cess and efficiency improvements. “We look forward to the opportunities this con-solidation offers to improve our service, and thank you for your patience and cooperation dur-ing all the renovation, moving and consolidation,” Mr. Robinson said. “Our goal is to provide in-creased support to all Ports Authority depart-ments, at all locations.” Track the Port of Wilmington’s new cranes on the Ports Authority website at www.ncports.com Click on Where in the world are the Port of Wilmington’s new container cranes? |
OCLC number | 22496029 |