Moffatt & Nichol drawing of container terminal
with new crane and rubber-tire gantries
STEM TO STERN
The Monthly Newsletter of the
North Carolina State Ports Authority
Board approves 4 cranes
SEPTEMBER
2005
Big Buy
Page 2
Security Moves
Forward
Page 3
Morehead City: Where
Rubber Meets the Road
Page 4
Wilmington Containers
Keep Setting Records
Page 5
part of this most historic time for the North Caro-lina
State Ports Authority,” said Board Chair-man
Carl J. Stewart Jr. “The crane contract rep-resents
the single largest equipment expenditure
ever by the Ports Authority.”
Voting unanimously in a meeting in Wilming-ton
Sept. 16, the Board approved award of a
$33.2 million contract for the construction of four
new cranes to Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. of
Shanghai, China, for delivery in early 2007.
The four 100-foot gauge container cranes will
join Wilmington’s four existing container cranes
as the linchpin of Wilmington’s five-year container
terminal expansion program which will double
container handling capacity at the Port’s ex-isting
facility.
“The 100-foot gauge cranes, along with
the planned purchase of rubber-tire gan-
Continued on page 8
Wilmington container terminal
expansion takes big step forward
The Port of Wilmington will move its expan-sion
program forward with the purchase of four
100-foot gauge container cranes under a con-tract
approved by the N.C. State Ports Authori-ty
Board of Directors.
“It is wonderful to reach this point in our
growth plans, and it is a particular
joy to me to be a
Durwood Garner, left, and Kenneth Eldred of the Port of Morehead City’s Maintenance
Department hang the sign for Shipping and Receiving on the Maritime Building, where
the department has moved since Hurricane Ophelia flooded the Port Operations Cen-ter
building. For more on the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Ophelia at the Ports,
see pages 6 and 7.
Photo by Susan Clizbe
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 2
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
MATERIALS MANAGEMENT
Ports Improvement Projects
Move Forward with Big Purchases
by John Robinson
Materials Manager, NC State Ports Authority
The North Carolina State Ports Authority
made history Sept. 16, as our Board of Directors
approved a group of purchase contracts totaling
more than $35 million.
Within the next two years, the North Caroli-na
Ports will upgrade container crane operations
and container terminal management, update
both Ports’ lift
trucks, and grow
the size of our facil-ities
as well, to meet
market demands.
What a great
time to be part of an
organization that
has embraced
growth and market
changes, stepped
up to the plate, and
hit a grand slam.
The record-breaking shopping list includes the
purchase of four new container cranes, eight new
lift trucks for the Port of Morehead City, three
new lift trucks for the Port of Wilmington, and
steel rails and crossties for the Radio Island de-velopment
project.
The biggest item on the list, the crane pur-chase
follows an in-depth evaluation of bidders
which included negotiated sessions in Wilming-ton
with each of the finalist bidders. These ses-sions
included participation from the Ports Au-thority’s
Purchasing, Crane, and Engineering and
Development departments.
Following the Board meeting, a notice to pro-ceed
was issued to Shanghai Zhenhua Port Ma-chinery
Co., with the official contract signing set
for October. The cranes are to be delivered and
commissioned in the first quarter of 2007.
The Port of Morehead City’s eight lift trucks
include two with a capacity of 15,500 pounds
and six with 10,000-lb. capacity, equipped with
lumber forks, from Daewoo Heavy Industries
‘What a great time to be part of an
organization that has
embraced growth and market
changes, stepped up to the plate,
and hit a grand slam.’
John Robinson
Materials Manager
Corp. A notice to proceed and
purchase order has been issued,
with delivery expected by year’s
end.
The Port of Wilmington has
added three 15,500 lb. lift trucks
in addition to six already on or-der
from Daewoo. Delivery on
these is expected by year’s end
as well.
Materials to upgrade rail access as part of
the Radio Island de-velopment
project
have been ordered.
The steel rail and
crossties should be
delivered in January.
Another key part
of Wilmington’s con-tainer-
terminal ex-pansion
is on target.
SMV Konecranes of
Sweden, the manu-facturer
which won
the contract to provide nine new reach stack-ers,
has provided a manufacturing update. De-livery
remains on schedule for three units each
in October, November and December.
The Ports Authority has been recognized with
the 2005 Achievement of Excellence in Procure-ment
award.
The award is presented annually by the Na-tional
Purchasing Institute, the Institute for Sup-ply
Management, and the National Institute for
Governmental Purchasing.
In 2004, only 112 governmental entities, from
the municipal to the federal level, received the
award - only 100 in 2003.
The award is presented for innovation, pro-fessionalism,
continuous education and training,
and leadership by the procurement organization.
The Materials Management Department is
proud to accept this award on behalf of our en-tire
organization.
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 3
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
Ports win new security funding as
work begins on first major project
The North Carolina State Ports Authority will
receive four grants worth $336,865 from a $142
million program managed by the U.S. Homeland
Security Department.
The winners in Round 5 of the Port Security
program were announced in early September by
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
At the same time, the first work on security
system upgrades is under way at the Ports of
Wilmington and Morehead City.
This award brings the total in Federal port
security grants for North Carolina’s Ports to just
over $8 million.
“We are pleased to be taking these steps to
enhance security at our Ports, and greatly ap-preciate
the support from Congressman Mike
McIntyre and the entire North Carolina Congres-sional
delegation,” said Ports Authority CEO Tom
Eagar.
“With continued Federal support for seaport
security, we continue to strengthen the servic-es
we provide the state
and the nation.”
Work began in Sep-tember
at both Ports on
a comprehensive securi-ty
system that integrates
fencing, lighting and com-puter-
controlled perime-ter
monitoring and intru-sion
detection with an in-dustry-
standard access-control
system.
The system was de-signed
by C.H. Guernsey
& Co., an engineering
firm that specializes in
security, and is based on
a security assessment
funded by the first round
of port security grants.
Johnson Controls Inc.
is the prime contractor for
the system.
Federal grant funding covers a significant por-tion
of the cost of this project with the Authori-ty’s
share about $700,000.
“These projects will provide Port Police offic-ers
with the equipment they need to do an even
better job to protect and guard the docks and
vessels,” said Doug Campen, director of Safety
and Security for the Ports Authority.
Projects funded in the new round of grants
include:
• $196,560 - improvements to waterside perimeter
surveillance
• $72,495 - law enforcement patrol boat
• $64,611 - underwater intrusion detection/scanning
equipment system
• $3,545 - communications interoperability equipment
that allows the Port Police to more effectively and
directly communicate and coordinate emergency
operations with military and other law enforcement
agencies.
Doug Campen, left, and Wilmington Port Police Capt. Donnie Long observe as a
worker for Maner Builders Supply Co., the fencing subcontractor, gets to work.
Photo by Susan Pridgen
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 4
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
Morehead City meets the challenge
Where the rubber hits the road - Cargo Operations
is on the job
As the Port of Morehead City’s natu-ral
rubber business boomed, filling the gap
left by the closure of the Port of New Or-leans
by Hurricane Katrina, the bulk of
the increased workload fell on the Cargo
Operations Department.
“We picked up the pace to help the
manufacturers keep their plants running,
and we’ve been running at that pace for a
full month now,” said Debra Winfrey, man-ager
of General Cargo Operations at the
Port.
The Cargo Operations Department’s
people have been working overtime to han-dle
more than 10,000 extra tons of rubber
from the PAC Alkaid and 15,000 from
the PAC Acrux - managing warehouses
and loading trucks and railcars.
In August, the average day saw 51
trucks coming through the gate, with the high day 69.
The September day average soared to 88, and on Sept.
23, 146 trucks were loaded and unloaded at the Port.
Of 1,372 trucks through Sept. 26, with four days left
in the month, 940 carried rubber and 356 carried lum-ber,
46 more than the entire month of August. The rub-ber
truck count in August was 219 fewer than Septem-ber
so far.
“Our cargo team is dedicated and experienced - an
excellent team who understand the value of superb cus-
See more on pages 6 and 7
Port of Morehead City forklifts load rubber onto one truck for delivery to
manufacturers as two others wait for loading. Each aluminum bin is a
unit - 1.5 tons of rubber - and each truck carries 15 or 16 units.
Photo by Susan Clizbe
tomer service, for our lumber and rubber customers
alike,” Ms. Winfrey said.
“The extra work has fallen mainly to our cargo-han-dling
and shipping and receiving staff, and they've been
extremely resourceful and flexible. It's their commitment
and energy which is allowing us to meet our customers’
special needs at this particularly trying time.”
Other departments have also pitched in to help, in-cluding
Cranes, Maintenance and Bulk Handling.
STEM TO STERN
The Monthly Newsletter
of the North Carolina State Ports Authority
SEPTEMBER 2005
Stem to Stern is an electronic
newsletter published each month 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 ............ Communications Director
Rick Koch .......... Human Resources Director
Susan Clizbe ........ Communications Manager
Laura Crowell ................... Human Resources
Susan Pridgen ...................... Communications
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carl J. Stewart, Jr., Chair ............. Gastonia
J. Brynn Thomas, Vice Chair ..... New Bern
John Curry ................................ Charlotte
Jim Fain .......................................... Raleigh
Jeff D. Etheridge, Jr. .................Whiteville
Derryl Garner ...........................Newport
Luther Hodges, Jr. ................. Chapel Hill
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
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 5
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
Wilmington container operations set records
by Susan Pridgen
Communications
The Port of Wilmington’s Container Terminal
met a hurricane-related challenge just as well
as the General Cargo crews at Wilmington and
Morehead City did, but it wasn’t because of car-go
diverted from elsewhere.
A record-breaking performance resulted from
the hurricane-caused diversion of Wilmington
Photo by Susan Pridgen
Photo Courtesy SSA Cooper
import containers on board the YM Shanghai to
Savannah Sept. 13.
But on Sept. 20, most of the diverted cargo
returned aboard the YM South, along with the
regular amount of business. Even with the extra
cargo, the ship left Wilmington on schedule.
“Through the combined efforts of the Crane
Department, International Longshoremen’s As-sociation
labor force working for stevedore SSA
Cooper, and the Container Department, we net-ted
40.14 moves per hour,” said Donna Jones,
manager of the Port’s Container Terminal. . “It
was an outstanding job by all to finish the vessel
in 20 hours and allow it to depart on
schedule.”
The vessel worked two days as
scheduled - three ILA gangs for 20
hours apiece - and completed 2,338
container moves. The work included
1,013 inbound containers and 1,225
outbound containers, she said.
Rob Frazier, Wilmington opera-tions
vice president for SSA Cooper,
echoed Ms. Jones’s comments.
“I’ve run out of superlatives,” he
said. “N.C. Ports crane and toplift op-erators
are without a doubt the best
with whom I've ever had the plea-sure
of working.”
The Wilmington container team,
including Ports Authority crane and
toplift operators, employees of SSA
Cooper, and the International
Longshoremen’s Association labor
force, gather to celebrate their big
accomplishment. During August’s
nearly 8,000 container moves, the
average productivity was 40.57
moves per hour. “We are the first
domestic unit of SSA Marine to do
this,” said Rob Frazier of SSA Coo-per.
“The level of communication
and drive for excellence between
crane and toplift operators, the ILA
and SSA Cooper is outstanding!”
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 6
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Hurricane Katrina brings business
Wilmington takes 12,000 tons of
steel, Morehead City more than
doubles usual rubber loading
After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and
shut down the Port of New Orleans for a matter of
weeks, both of North Carolina’s Ports jumped in to
help customers get cargo to its destination.
In Wilmington, the Bright Laker discharged
12,000 tons of steel wire rod coils, in addition to
4,000 tons of rail for CSX Transportation already
destined for the Port.
When the hurricane struck, the ship was tran-siting
the Panama Canal on the way to the Port
of New Orleans - and when the extent of the
hurricane's devastation became evident, the own-ers
of the ship and the cargo on board opted to
send it directly to Wilmington and discharge the
entire load there.
In Morehead City, the work started even be-fore
the storm hit New Orleans. Morehead City's
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
Ophelia makes a mess in Morehead City
Cargo Operations Department began moving rub-ber
out of its warehouses on Monday, Aug. 30,
to keep manufacturing facilities supplied while
New Orleans was closed to weather the storm.
The Port received an extra 7,000 units of rub-ber,
at 1.5 tons each, when the PAC Alkaid
called just after Hurricane Katrina hit the U.S.
Gulf Coast.
The Port, with the nation's second-largest
volume of natural-rubber imports at just over
200,000 tons in fiscal 2005, was scheduled to
receive about 7,000 of the ship's 17,000-unit car-go.
The rest was destined for the Port of New
Orleans, the top-ranked port for rubber.
As Hurricane Ophelia approached Morehead
City, the PAC Alkaid departed for Baton Rouge,
La., to discharge the remaining cargo of about
3,000 units.
Just a few days later, though, the PAC Acrux
arrived with nearly 17,000 units - and again,
Morehead City handled the entire cargo, includ-ing
10,000 units that also would have gone to
Louisiana, but Hurricane Rita interfered.
Tim Wilson, left, Port of Morehead
City’s Maintenance Department,
and Steve Minor from the
Authority’s Engineering and De-velopment
Department, examine
a warehouse door at the Port dam-aged
by Hurricane Ophelia. The
storm did minimal damage in Wil-mington,
closing the Port for one
day, but lingered in Morehead
City. The Port was closed for two
days while the storm passed. Af-ter
it was over, only minimal
damage - like this door and sev-eral
similar ones - was found in
cargo-handling areas, but the Port
Operations Center sustained se-vere
damage to the roof, resulting
in water damage inside.
Photo by Susan Clizbe
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 7
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
Photo by Susan Pridgen
Both Ports handled unexpectedly
large discharges of cargo di-verted
from the Port of New Or-leans
in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina. Above, one crane on the
PAC Acrux lowers eight 1.5-ton
units of rubber onto the dock at
Morehead City, behind forklifts
moving the previous load, while
the warehouse fills with the ship’s
nearly 25,000-ton cargo. At left, the
Bright Laker’s crane swings over
the deck carrying some of its
cargo of 12,000 tons of steel wire
rod coils at the Port of Wilmington
as forklifts move toward the tran-sit
shed with more coils. Both ships
were handled by stevedore SSA
Cooper, with International Long-shoremen’s
Association labor.
Photo by Susan Clizbe
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 8
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Port expansion plans move forward with cranes
by Karen Fox
Communications Director
In addition to approving a contract for four
100-foot gauge container cranes at its meeting
Sept. 16 in Wilmington, the N.C. State Ports
Authority Board of Directors also authorized
eight lift trucks to service new lumber business
at the Port of Morehead City and three lift trucks
to meet continued growth of lumber imports at
the Port of Wilmington.
The Board also agreed to buy steel beams
and wooden cross ties for rail upgrades at the
Port of Morehead City to provide the capability
of handling heavy axle unit trains as port
development proceeds on Radio Island. Buying
these materials in advance will shorten the
overall construction schedule and save money.
Meeting in Morehead City Aug. 25, the Board
approved contracts for several projects involving
facilities and infrastructure at the Port, including:
· a final design contract with Moffatt & Nichol
of Raleigh for improvements to the T-head
dock at Radio Island Terminal.
· a contract to repair the mooring dolphin at
Berth 1, with Taylor Brothers Marine of
Beaufort.
· a new five-year contract with the Gulf & Ohio
Railways Holding Co., Inc. for rail switching
on the Port. The previous operator, Carolina
Rail Services, has transferred its interests
BOARD REPORT
Board aids progress of projects
tries and improvements to the berths, will give
Wilmington the capacity to handle larger, world-class
vessels,” said Tom Eagar, CEO of the Ports
Authority. “Our goal is to bring two additional
container lines to Wilmington within the next 12
to 18 months.”
“The $9 million appropriation from the N.C.
General Assembly to the Ports Authority has
jump-started these unprecedented expansion
Continued from page 1
in the switching railroad to G&O. The new
railroad is called the Morehead and South
Fork Railroad Co., Inc.
· a contract with USR Corp. for a stability study
of Berths 1 through 9 and the barge docks at
Morehead City. The study will survey the
condition of berth structures, verify structural
stability in relation to the current channel
depth, and price any required repairs.
The Board also began the first construction
task to move the Port of Wilmington container
terminal improvements forward by approving a
contract – also with Taylor Brothers Marine –
for a 425-foot extension of the 50-foot gauge
container crane rail, from the north end of Berth
8 to the south end of Berth 7. This will allow
two 1,100-foot vessels to conduct cargo
operations at the same time, improving ship
turnaround times and relieving congestion.
Board Chairman Carl J. Stewart, Jr., also
discussed the status of the Southport marina
and issued the following statement:
“The N.C. State Ports Authority is not moving
ahead with any action on the Southport Marina
at this time because many issues are pending
with respect to the state legislature, the City of
Southport, and marina leaseholders. The Board
wishes, however, to see the marina upgraded by
some entity to better serve the community. I have
asked staff to detail any improvements that need
to be made to the marina in order to be in
compliance with the lease.”
plans for our State Ports, and we thank Gover-nor
Mike Easley and the members of the Gener-al
Assembly for their support,” Mr. Stewart add-ed.
“Our 44.5-percent business growth over the
past two years, plus the predicted doubling of
international trade and corresponding demand
for port capacity, bring us a window of opportu-nity
to bring additional economic benefits, jobs
and tax revenues to North Carolina through these
improvements to our Ports.”
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 9
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Authority welcomes Caribbean visitor
by Karen Fox
Communications Director
How does a leading member of the hospitality
industry on the Netherland Antilles island of St.
Maarten come to be next in line to run that island
nation’s only deepwater port? And what would bring
that same person to North Carolina’s Ports?
Keith D. Franca smiled, “I was recruited based on
the need for someone with a broad management
background in the absence of candidates with port
management experience.”
Mr. Franca’s management background began as
assistant manager at the largest hotel on St. Maarten.
He progressed to general manager of the hotel some
20 years later, then on to his own consulting business.
He became deputy managing director at the St.
Maarten Ports Authority in early 2005, with the
expectation that he will become port director once
formally approved by the port board of directors and
shareholders at the end of the year.
He wanted to get a running start on the job, with
intense and varied port management training, he said.
So the American Association of Port Authorities put
together a four-month “familiarization” tour of US
ports for him, with North Carolina as the grand finale.
“What made a big difference about North Carolina
was the attitude,” Mr. Franca said. “The people here
are exceptionally friendly and very accommodating.”
“Jeff Miles’ greeting was second to none,” he said
of the Ports Authority’s COO. “In our first meeting he
had all the documents necessary for someone to read
overnight to understand the organization - operating
budget, capital project budget, organizational chart,
etc.”
Mr. Franca observed the Port’s operations, from
the container yard to the dock office to the cargo control
center. He said he was impressed with the container
crane productivity.
“The attitude is like it is the employees’ business,”
he said, adding that he was impressed by the mutual
respect he observed during the monthly meeting of
the engineering, maintenance and operations
departments.
Mr. Franca said there are similarities and
differences between the St. Maarten Ports Authority
and North Carolina’s Ports: the St. Maarten port is a
landlord port, not an operating port like North
Carolina’s. Container volumes are about the same as
Wilmington’s, although St. Maarten’s business is
import only.
St. Maarten is a cruise port, with 1.3 million
passengers visiting last year. North Carolina’s ports
have not hosted cruise passengers regularly since
2001. Port security upgrades are under way at the
St. Maarten Port, as they are at North Carolina’s Ports.
Unforeseen business required Mr. Franca to leave
North Carolina before his scheduled visit to the Port
of Morehead City.
At the top of his list of what he will remember most
about visit, he said, was Jerry Moore, operations
director at the Port of Wilmington.
“He was my host and North Carolina hospitality
ambassador.”
And he may find there are more than a few eager
North Carolina Ports volunteers ready to sign up for a
reciprocal “familiarization” tour of the St. Maarten Port.
Keith Franca spends his last day at the Port of Wilmington
with Chief Operating Officer Jeff Miles, left, and Wilming-ton
Director of Port Operations Jerry Moore, right.
Photo by Susan Clizbe
PORTS PEOPLE
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 10
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
HUMAN RESOURCES NEWS
by Lori McKoy
Human Resources
Are you among the many employ-ees
who want to support charities
working to help people along the hurri-cane-
ravaged Gulf Coast? There’s an
easy way to do it, with only one catch -
you have to return your State Employ-ees
Combined Campaign forms to Hu-man
Resources by Oct. 31.
SECC is a fundraising campaign to support
the work of hundreds of charitable organizations.
This is a single coordinated fundraiser which
reaches out at the same time to all North Caro-lina
state employees. More than 800 charities
participate in this year's campaign, including
those helping the victims of Katrina and Rita -
and you can designate precisely which groups
get your donation if you choose to.
The donation may be a one-time amount, or
may be spread over the year through payroll
deduction. SECC has already made sure the
charities are legitimate nonprofits - so all dona-tions
are tax-deductible.
The SECC’s fiscal 2006 goal is $5 million
statewide. Here at the Ports Authority, we’d like
to reach $10,000. That’s only $33.35 per em-ployee
- if every employee donated the minimum
Carpooling is an easy, flexible way to share
rides to and from work or elsewhere. With gas
prices rising and uncertain since the recent hur-ricanes,
many more people are looking into it.
Here are a few tips if you wish to share a ride
to work with one or more of your friends or col-leagues.
Get Acquainted. Before you commit shar-ing
rides, meet with your potential partner to
see if it's a good match.
Check Insurance. Verify that all drivers
have insurance coverage.
Make Schedules. Determine who is driving
which days - written schedules help avoid mis-understandings.
Most carpools share driving re-sponsibilities.
$5 per month for payroll deduction
(that’s only $2.50 per pay period), we
would raise $18,000 this year and sig-nificantly
exceed the goal.
The SECC materials you should
have received last week include a list
of the participants which are making
a difference to help people affected by
the storms rebuild and regroup.
Each employee who participates in
the campaign will receive a Ports Authority golf
shirt and hat. And all participants’ names will go
into a drawing for prizes to be awarded at the
end of the campaign. The department with the
highest participation rate will be rewarded with
lunch in their department served by the Senior
Management Team.
The campaign began Sept. 1, and runs through
Oct. 31. To participate, all you have to do is fill
out the donation form and return it to the Hu-man
Resources office for processing.
If you choose payroll deduction, your total do-nation
will be divided by 24 to determine the
amount deducted from each paycheck. Deduc-tions
begin in January.
If you have any questions, see Lori McKoy or
Laura Crowell in the Wilmington Human Resourc-es
offices, or Amanda Bryant in Morehead City.
SECC provides easy way to help hurricane victims
Stay in Touch. Consider setting up a phone
tree and sharing phone numbers.
Pick the Time & Place. Decide what time
to meet and choose pickup and drop-off points.
Make the Rules. Answer in advance the ba-sics
of sharing spaces, such as:
• Is smoking allowed?
• Is eating and drinking allowed?
• Radio - on or off? Which station?
• How do you accommodate unscheduled
stops?
• How will you handle alternative driving in
case of illness or emergency?
• How long will you wait for someone if they
are late? 3 - 5 minutes is usually fair, but
there’s always someone who pushes it!
Hints on how to carpool - to save fuel and money
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 11
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Big names in furniture visit
The biggest names in furniture toured the Port of Wilmington with Business Development leaders Glenn Carlson and
Sarah Gaillard in August. Furniture Brands International, the umbrella group including Henredon, Drexel Heritage,
Thomasville and Maitland-Smith, sent a crowd to visit the container facility, meet representatives of the carriers, and
discuss how they can help bring new container services to the Port. Left to right in front are Paul Busko, Yang Ming;
Leroy Harris, Laneventure; Bunni Mills, Drexel Heritage; Carmen Hughes and Donna Seagle, Henredon; Teresa Vickers,
Drexel. In back are Tom Guthrie, Business Development; Darcie Hansen, Hanjin; Tom Burke, Maitland-Smith; Jennifer
McClain, Hanjin; Bill Harris, Henredon; Davy Whittington, Drexel; and Jody Sims, Thomasville.
Photo by Susan Pridgen
Have you
recognized a
fellow employee
lately?
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
The Employee Recognition Committee invites you to recog-nize
the exceptional work of your colleagues. Nomination
forms for the Lighthouse Awards program can be found in
the Human Resources form racks, near suggestion boxes,
and in the Ports Teamroom.
We kindly ask that you return completed
forms to your Human
Resources office.
We look forward to hearing from you!
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 12
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Photos by Susan Clizbe
Eddie Inman from the Port of Wilmington’s Main-tenance
Department loads a 1940s tool cabinet
from the Wilmington Shipyard’s fire truck garage
at the Cape Fear Museum.
Ports Authority donates history
Wilmington Shipyard artifacts join
Cape Fear Museum collection
The Port of Wilmington has donated tools and
equipment to the Cape Fear Museum to help tell
the story of the World War II Wilmington Ship-yard
which was the Port’s predecessor on the
banks of the Cape Fear River.
Last year, the museum unveiled an exhibit
entitled “The 20th Century: A Century of
Change,” with a section focusing on the new in-dustries
and expanding populations which re-energized
the region at the end of the Century.
Museum Director Ruth Haas, a longtime
friend of the Ports and a member of the Mari-time
Festival steering committee, realized that
the Port, and the Shipyard before it, clearly de-served
inclusion. She asked in the spring whether
anything from the old days might still be around.
A search through storage areas and attics -
literal and figurative - turned up a dozen items
of interest, and in August, the Port’s Mainte-nance
Department delivered them to the Muse-um’s
permanent collection.
Besides those shown here, the donation in-cluded
three hand trucks, a tobacco-bale dolly,
chain hoist, cable cutter, miter saw, nail puller,
bar clamp and bow saw.
2006 HOLIDAYS
New Year Jan. 2
MLK Jr. Birthday Jan. 16
Good Friday April 14
Memorial Day May 29
Independence Day July 4
Labor Day Sept. 4
Veteran’s Day Nov. 10
Thanksgiving Nov. 23 / 24
Christmas Dec. 22 / 25
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
Barbara Rowe of the Cape Fear Museum, left, and Kenny Platt
and Eddie Inman of the Port of Wilmington’s Maintenance de-partment
dolly a 1950s-vintage locker into the museum’s elevator.
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 13
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
A diplomatic delegation from the West African nation of Gabon,
and their hosts from the N.C. Department of Transportation Divi-sion
of Aviation and Wilmington International Airport, tour the
Port of Wilmington Sept. 10. Left to right in front are Steve Haynes,
Ports Authority; Jules Marius Ogouebandja, Ambassador of
Gabon to the U.S.; Brigitte Fanguinoveni, Air Gabon; Louis Gaston
Mayila, Air Gabon; William Williams, Division of Aviation; and
Gary Broughton, ILM. In the rear, left to right: Julie Wilsey, ILM;
Bill Cherry, Air Wilmington; Jim Morton, ILM; Andrew Bouassa,
ITSC; Jean-de-Dieu Mickouma, Gabonese Embassy; Chuck
Miller, ITSC; and Jon Rosborough, ILM.
Photo by Karen Fox
Ambassador visits Wilmington
NEWS FROM THE PORTS
A new vending machine contractor for the Port of
Wilmington and Wilmington Maritime Building should
help reduce shortages and machine problems.
Canteen has been awarded the state contracts for
vending services by the North Carolina Divison of Ser-vices
for the Blind. Canteen will support the drink and
snack machines and resupply based on usage.
A new cold-food machine in the new W-5 break
room provides cold sandwiches, fruit, milk and juic-es.
The machine is fairly expensive, so Canteen will
monitor usage to determine if business volume war-rant
its remaining on the Port.
Canteen is a national vendor and will provide:
• new/updated snack machines (adding one in the
Maintenance Department)
• Coke and Pepsi products throughout the Port
• regular visits to keep machines stocked and
working.
Please let Laura Crowell in Human Resources,
343-6310, know if you have any comments or re-quests.
New vendor brings new machines, choices
Delmer Smith, a temporary equipment operator, enjoys
his lunch in the Cargo Handling Department’s new W-5
break room as equipment operator Michelle Bennett and
Foreman Steve Pigford, make their choices. The machine
at right is a new one which offers cold sandwiches, fruit,
milk and juices.
State Health Plan
announces plan changes
and open enrollment
September is open enrollment for North
Carolina’s state employee health insurance
programs.
This is the time of year to drop or add
coverage for yourself or family members. All
changes will become effective Oct. 1.
Please note that you cannot make chang-es
to coverage during the plan year unless
there is a ‘qualifying event.’ Examples in-clude
the birth or adoption of a child, mar-riage,
or loss of coverage for dependents.
For a complete list of qualifying events,
please refer to the Health Benefits booklet.
Members of the State Health Plan should
already have received information mailed to
their homes about the open enrollment peri-od
and plan changes. If you did not or if you
have any questions, please see your Human
Resources office right away.
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 14
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Elliott Larsen
Police Officer
Morehead City
New Team
Member
PORTS PEOPLE
Service Awards
September
Wilmington
Thomas Walker - Cargo Handling 30 years
Jeff Flack - Plant Maintenance 25 years
October
Morehead City
William Abreu - Cargo Handling 5 years
Robin Galyon - Cranes 5 years
Wilmington
Clarence Williams - Maintenance 25 years
Corporate
Ron Ardecki - IT 5 years
Mark Neal - IT 5 years
October Birthdays
Morehead City
Oct. 3 Kenny Eldred - Plant Maintenance
Oct. 7 Braxton Davis - Bulk Handling
Oct. 14 Doug Campen - Safety
Oct. 30 Leo James - Plant Maintenance
Wilmington
Oct. 1 Lisa Michael - Containers
Oct. 14 J.R. Hickman - Cranes
Oct. 18 Paul Jones - Cargo Handling
Oct. 21 Susan Rimel - Containers
Oct. 22 Stephen Groves - Cargo Handling
Oct. 25 David Leggett - Plant Maintenance
Corporate
Oct. 15 Ron Ardecki - IT
Oct. 17 Linda Wright - Communications
Oct. 26 Jeff Strader - Finance
Oct. 29 Ivy McGuire - Finance
Oct. 31 Heather Pirtle - Business Development
Rita Harris has joined the N.C. State Ports
Authority as Government Relations Manager.
She will work with Government Relations
Manager Kaye Gattis to advocate for the Au-thority's
initiatives in Washington, D.C., and with
the General Assembly and state agencies in Ra-leigh.
"Rita's background in public policy and leg-islative
affairs at both the state and federal lev-el
will serve us well at a key time," Ports Au-thority
CEO Tom Eagar said. "Our $265 million
expansion program for the Ports of Morehead
City and Wilmington is getting into high gear,
and support from all of our partners in the pub-lic
arena is crucial as we move forward."
Most recently, Ms. Harris served in the North
Carolina General Assembly as special assistant
for the budget in the office of Speaker of the
House of Representatives James
B. Black. She has also served as
staff assistant to the House Ap-propriations
Committee and as
legislative assistant to Rep. Tho-mas
C. Hardaway.
In Washington, D.C., Ms. Har-ris
worked on Capitol Hill as ad-ministrative
assistant and chief
clerk to U.S. Rep. Claude Pepper,
House Rules Committee chair-man,
as financial manager for
the House Committee on Aging, and staff assis-tant
to Sen. Floyd Haskell. She also was an ex-ecutive
assistant at Patton Boggs, one of the
nation's leading public-policy law firms.
A native of Halifax County, Ms. Harris has
relocated from Raleigh to Wilmington.
Rita Harris
Harris brings Raleigh and Capitol Hill experience
to Ports’ Government Relations team
The state retirement system, part of the
Office of the State Treasurer,
has information online at
www.treasurer.state.nc.us/dsthome/RetirementSystems
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 15
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Gaillard re-elected to board of forest products group
PORTS PEOPLE
Sarah Gaillard, director of Container Logistics
for the N.C. State Ports Authority, has been re-elected
to a four-year term on the International
Forest Products Transportation Association board
of directors.
She was first elected in 2001, as the board’s
first woman member.
“Forest products have long been one of the
most significant contributors to the cargo handled
at North Carolina’s Ports,” Ms. Gaillard said.
“Even now, these commodities, including lumber,
paper and woodpulp, are more than a third of
our total tonnage – so this group represents a
key part of our business.”
Ms. Gaillard joined the Ports Authority in 1989
as manager of intermodal and steamship sales,
and since then has served in various executive
positions, including managing director and deputy
executive director of Business Development.
With 25 years experience in
the shipping and logistics
industry, Ms. Gaillard has
extensive experience in maritime
operations. She previously was
vice president of sales for a
shipping agency in Charleston,
S.C. and she is also a licensed
customs-house broker.
Ms. Gaillard is a native of
Charleston and attended the
College of Charleston. She lives
in Wilmington.
The IFPTA has a worldwide membership of
approximately 600. Its mission is to ensure an
efficient global transport and logistics system for
the forest products industry and its customers.
Members represent a cross-section of the many
disciplines related to the transport, handling, and
distribution of forest products.
Sarah Gaillard
Christina Tosto Ed Church
September brought a pair of
moves for members of the Busi-ness
Development team.
Christina Tosto, market re-search
specialist, has been pro-moted
to market support supervi-sor.
Reporting to Managing Direc-tor
of Business Development Glenn
Carlson, she will supervise the
Business Development support
staff and provide support for container, bulk,
break-bulk, and distribution services functions
within the department.
Ms. Tosto graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill
with a bachelor’s degree in public-policy analysis
and earned a master’s degree in public adminis-tration
from East Carolina University.
She joined the Ports Authority and the Busi-ness
Development Department in 2004.
Ed Church, economic development manager,
has transferred to the Finance Department as
real estate manager.
Reporting to Chief Financial
and Information Officer Jeff
Strader, he is responsible for the
development of long-range prop-erty
acquisition strategies and the
administration and utilization of
tenant-occupied properties. He will
continue to assist the Business
Development Department with
economic activities.
Mr. Church joined the Ports
Authority in December 2003 after having served
as executive director of the Davidson Economic
Development Commission in Lexington, N.C., and
as an economic development representative with
the N.C. Department of Commerce.
He earned an associate’s degree in engineer-ing
technology from Davidson County Commu-nity
College and a bachelor’s degree in agricul-ture
and business administration from Tennes-see
Technological University.
Tosto, Church move to new positions
SEPTEMBER 2005 PAGE 16
www.ncports.com
STEM TO STERN
Free parking and a free trolley shuttle to the
North Carolina Seafood Festival start a full week-end
at the Port of Morehead City’s 27th annual
Open House, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday,
Oct. 1.
Held in conjunction with the Morehead City
Seafood Festival, the Port’s open house provides
visitors a firsthand look at the Port and its facil-ities
which link North Carolina consumers, busi-ness,
and industry with world markets.
Guided bus tours of the Port’s docks, ware-houses,
cranes, equipment and cargo will be of-fered.
The N.C. Ferry Division’s M/V Silver Lake
and the U.S. Coast Guard’s Elm – a 220-foot
buoy-tender – will be docked at the Port and
open for tours as well.
The ever-popular “fossil dig” sponsored by PCS
Phosphate, one of the Port’s main customers,
will entertain kids. Live music is also on the
Mike Weeks, left, host of the Business
Break on WITN-TV, a “commandant”
sponsor of the Morehead City Sea-food
Festival, interviews Bill Guthrie,
maintenance manager at the Port of
Morehead City, which is an “admi-ral”
sponsor of the festival. The Port is
visible across the water from the dock
on Morehead City’s waterfront.
Shuttles from parking at the Port will
take visitors to the heart of the Sea-food
Festival’s activities.
ACTIVITY BUZZ
Morehead City Open House
schedule from Kenny Boy and Little John and Shel-by
Cundiff. New this year is a vendor selling food
and drinks on the Port.
Last year's wildly popular boat show returns
with even more boats from more dealers on dis-play,
and two car clubs will show off their rides
just inside the main gate. Also on display will be
some of the Ports' cargo, and equipment displays
from Homeland Security, N.C. Marine Fisheries
and the Port.
Free parking is available for Seafood Festival
activities all day Saturday and Sunday. The shut-tle
runs Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.and
Sunday 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
On Sunday, Oct. 2, Seafood Festival’s Bless-ing
of the Fleet will take place at 10 a.m. at the
Port. The ship tours will also be open from 11
a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Ships, tours, music, food, boats and cars - what more is there?
www.ncstatefair.org
Photo by Susan Clizbe