Ports of Seattle and Tacoma

[Bond James Bond]

Well it can't hold a candle to the ports of Rotterdam or Hong Kong or Singapore, but I thought I'd show it anyway. :D

A lot of the stuff that goes out from Hong Kong goes through Seattle. If you look at these pics closely maybe you can match some of the ships. ;)

Main overview, looking south
http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/seattle/2004/WASEh040617D_136.jpg

Same view but from farther away, with the Duwamish industrial area spreading to the south
http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/seattle/2004/WASEh040617D_137.jpg

The port in relation to downtown Seattle
http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/seattle/2004/WASEh040617D_127.jpg

That's a decent overview to start. I'll try to find some more pics later.

[Bond James Bond]

Some news.

BTW, could a moderator please re-name this thread to "The ports of Seattle and Tacoma"? I think I'll put Tacoma in here, too, since they're real close to each other. Thanks.

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Seattle P-I
Thursday, December 16, 2004

The Port of Seattle's Terminal 25 reopening to handle cargo boom
Hundreds of jobs expected to be created

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The Port of Seattle's Terminal 25 will reopen to container traffic in July in a move that officials say is a reaction to overflow cargo from Southern California ports and new goods heading to more Puget Sound-area distribution centers.

The port commission approved a 15-year lease Tuesday with Seattle-based SSA Terminals to operate 32 acres at the terminal, which is at East Marginal Way South and South Spokane Street.

SSA Terminals and Matson Navigation Co. Inc., a U.S. shipping company, used Terminal 25 from the 1980s until 2002, before they moved to a refurbished and expanded Terminal 18.

Year to date through November, the port has seen its cargo volume grow by 17 percent. It will invest $15 million to $20 million in improvements for the Terminal 25 project, which is expected to see 284 permanent and 346 construction jobs created.

The port estimates the permanent jobs, which will include positions in trucking, maintenance and terminal operations, will create $14 million in yearly wages and salaries. The construction jobs, from which other businesses will benefit, will end in July.

"The bottom line is that our cargo volume is growing so strongly right now that we had to reactivate Terminal 25," said Mick Shultz, port spokesman.

Shultz and a shipping company group spokesman said the increased cargo in the Puget Sound region goes beyond the spilloff from the congestion recently seen at Southern California ports.

In at least the past three years, Shultz said, more distribution centers, serving large chain retail and independent companies, have cropped up in the Puget Sound area, specifically in Lacey, Sumner, Kent, Tukwila and Fife. Those centers handle imported goods that are shipped to other U.S. cities.

In the past, shippers and cargo companies typically just sent goods to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach because they are the largest on the U.S. West Coast, said Ezra Finkin, a spokesman for the Washington-D.C. based Waterfront Coalition.

"Ever since the 2002 port shutdown, shippers realized that they needed to diversify, for risk management purposes, the ports that they use," he said, referring to the labor dispute that stopped goods.

The coalition represents about 50 cargo and shipping companies nationwide, including ones in Washington state. Shipping companies, he added, also learned from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and they are using multiple West Coast ports to ensure that goods can enter and leave the country in an emergency.

SSA Terminals, which has no ships and hires union members to run much of its operations, has seen a cargo increase of 25 percent for this year, said Ed DeNike, chief operating officer.

He expects the company's cargo volume to double from 400,000 containers a year to 800,000 by 2007.

"We do operate in California and we know the restrictions in California, and we feel comfortable that these are realistic figures that we're talking about," he said.

Under the lease agreement, Matson, which serves the West Coast, Hawaii and Guam, will move to Terminal 25, across from Terminal 18. Because of the way Matson stores its domestic cargo, Shultz said, the move would enable more international containers to be stacked at the 196-acre Terminal 18.

That terminal is expected to receive $42 million in port investment, including pier upgrades.

John Littel, executive assistant for the Seattle Building Trades Council, said yesterday that he had not seen the lease details.

But "we're supportive of the port maintaining the relationship with shippers and keeping container shipping as a primary focus," he said. "The working waterfront is what Seattle is about."

His group represents 27 unions in King County and 20,000 to 30,000 construction and maintenance workers. Many are expected to find employment at the port project. Port of Seattle construction work is expected to start soon, Shultz said, and the anticipated activity is coinciding with expansions.

Next month, the Port of Tacoma will open its expanded Pierce County Terminal, a move that will increase cargo capacity there and will shift some shipping companies to new homes.

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20041203/EvergreenPortTacoma1203.gif

Big growth at Port of Tacoma
New terminal means more jobs for the south Sound

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

As West Coast ports continue seeing increased cargo from Asia, the Port of Tacoma will open its 171-acre Pierce County Terminal next month to increase capacity for Taiwan's Evergreen Marine Corp., one of the world's largest shippers.

The expansion, the largest in the port's 86-year history, has port officials and labor leaders pointing to new trade-related jobs and the need for more infrastructure investment.

The new terminal, built to accommodate growing imports fueled in part by expanding Asian trade, is expected to help boost the south Sound facility's business by 19 percent next year, said Doug Ljungren, Port of Tacoma business planning manager.

"We've never had growth like that before," he said. "I'm not sure that the entire (transportation) system is really that aware of what will come over us this next year.

"All we can say, in the broad sense, is 'Here comes business.' "

By the end of 2005, he anticipates the increased trade will create about 650 direct new jobs, mostly in the Puget Sound region. On average, he estimated, the jobs will pay about $53,000 per year, or 36 percent above the current statewide average.

"That's a big company moving into Puget Sound," he said, adding that more trade-related jobs could surface after that.

The Jan. 15 opening date will see Evergreen shift all of its operations from its current Blair Waterway location to the first phase of the Pierce County Terminal.

That move will give the company an annual shipping capacity of 840,000 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, a standard measure of container cargo size. The new terminal also will offer enough space for two cargo vessels.

At the company's current Port of Tacoma site, there is only space for one cargo ship.

New employees for the Pierce County Terminal, an area that once stored automobiles and large equipment, will be hired through the 750-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, said Conrad Spell, the group president.

He said he is excited about the expansion, and the union is talking with the new terminal operators about filling new jobs there.

"Anytime you have more carriers come into your port, that's a positive," he said.

"Most of the jobs will be filled by existing members, but we need people from the backup pool to fill in the extra work."

The Evergreen expansion also has triggered a shift of terminals for Japan's "K" Line, said Brendan Dugan, a port senior director who handles container business.

After Evergreen moves to its new terminal, workers will begin renovation on the company's old home so "K" Line can move from its nearby Port of Tacoma base.

Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp., another Taiwanese shipper, is expected to move into "K" Line's old home, possibly by the middle of next year.

Port officials expect that contract to be signed this month.

In the coming years, Dugan said, the two shipping companies will enjoy more space at their new terminals because of port renovation.

Dugan added that transpacific trade has become the world's largest cargo lane.

"It used to be Europe to Asia, but trans-Pacific trade outpaced Europe to Asia trade in the late 1990s," he said.

"The challenge or opportunity is how can we position ourselves to take advantage of that economically."

This year, the facility, North America's fifth-largest container port, can handle 1.74 million TEUs. Next year, the port is expected to handle 2 million TEUs.

While the Port of Tacoma will invest $210 million in the overall Pierce County Terminal expansion, Evergreen will contribute about $55 million for container cranes and equipment.

In September, the Taiwanese company shipped four, 24-story high Chinese-made cranes across the Pacific Ocean to the Tacoma port. At the time, the cranes were the world's largest, port officials said.

Evergreen also has about 35-cargo moving vehicles slated for the new facility, according to Dugan.

The Taiwanese company started discussions with the Port of Tacoma in 2001 about the terminal expansion, in part because it liked the area's rail connections to other U.S. cities, said Barbara Yeninas, company spokesperson.

Future trade with Asia, she said, is expected to continue. "If we felt there were any downsides, we wouldn't be doing it," she said.

Next month's opening also is occurring as Southern California ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach have experienced recent heavy backlogs with some cargo ships from Asia sitting offshore for days to wait for a berth to unload.

To cope with the backlog, especially during the holiday season, those ports have had to hire thousands of workers.

Port of Tacoma officials point out that when both phases of the new Evergreen terminal are finished in 2008, it will cover 237 acres and be the largest container site north of Los Angeles.

Also, at least 600 acres are available for future expansion at the deep-water port, which officials note can handle the new generation of larger cargo ships that will slip into the Pacific Ocean.

[Bond James Bond]

One thing that passes through the Port of Seattle . . . though most Northwest grain goes through Portland.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/200765_wheat23.html

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

State wheat supply in demand
China's appetite for grain could be Northwest's gain

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

PASCO -- From U.S. Route 12, the Tri-Cities Grain terminal and its large stainless steel storage bins and mountain of wheat might seem like just another shipping facility near sagebrush and along the Snake River.

Long-haul trucks, filled with soft white wheat from the area, arch around Tank Farm Road to the terminal's loading pit. Wheat kernels drop from trailer bellies through metal grates and land on a covered conveyer belt. Later, they tumble from a spout into a grain barge that's about 25 feet deep and 275 feet long.

Mark Weber, Tri-Cities operations manager, standing aboard the vessel, said he heard about China recently snatching up wheat, grown either in Eastern Washington or shipped by Columbia River exporters and barge terminals such as this one. But as an ordinary worker, he said, he lets others focus on those details.

"I don't care where it's going, as long as it moves," the 36-year-old said.

Since last year, though, a lot more of it has headed to China.

For the first time in 30 years, China has entered the Pacific Northwest wheat market on a dramatic scale. For Eastern Washington farmers, rising fuel prices and the uncertainty of future demand have blunted enthusiasm for the potential new market, doing little more than offsetting rising costs.

But among some analysts, there is guarded optimism about China needing wheat from other countries.

"I think what you'll see is that China is going to be more consistently coming into the world market to continue to buy wheat and looking for higher-quality wheat," said Thomas Wahl, who directs Washington State University's Impact agricultural research center.

Already this year, China has accepted 1.8 million metric tons of U.S. wheat -- nearly 17 times as much as all of last year. And about 60 percent of it was funneled through Columbia River ports, said Glen Squires, a Washington Wheat Commission analyst.

One key reason for China's venture into the global market, Squires said, is that its wheat supplies and production have dipped in recent years, but consumption remains high.

For the state's farmers, the increased purchases mark the first time in about 30 years -- not since the Chinese Communist government awoke to the outside world -- that they have been able to participate on such a large scale in this market, said Squires.

Since the early 1970s, China balked at buying Pacific Northwest wheat, arguing that it contained the fungus Tilletia controversa kuhn, or TCK smut. Pacific Northwest farmers, who have said the region's wheat is well-suited for China and its food products, long maintained that the commodity was fine.

In 1999, China formally agreed with an international study that a low level of TCK smut poses no threat to consumers or wheat. At the time, the country was trying to join the World Trade Organization.

Since last year, sales of wheat to China have risen dramatically.

U.S. Census statistics show that wheat and meslin exports from the Columbia and Snake rivers to China grew from $9.9 million for the first nine months of last year to $267 million for the same period this year.

Tri-Cities Grain manager Damon Filan, who tracks his company's sales, shipments and the market, noticed a flurry of Chinese wheat purchases during February and March.

At the time, he sent one message to his network of about 700 farmers: "Time to sell grain, guys, because it's profitable."

"It was a big chunk, and it was done in a three- to four-day window," he said, referring to China's buying binge.

China uses soft white wheat, an Eastern Washington commodity grown in places such as Whitman County, in steamed breads, noodles and pastries. U.S. exports of soft white wheat have shown a 20-fold increase over last year.

In addition, sales of hard red spring wheat, which is shipped through Columbia River ports but is grown in the Upper Great Plains of the Midwest as well as in Washington state, also skyrocketed.

Sales of those two types of wheat, calculated at recent prices from the Portland market, were $205.8 million.

Given the statistical growth, these great leaps forward should have the same effect on wheat farmers as acupuncture needles do on patients in pain -- a tingling, calming feeling in the body.

But there is uncertainty about whether China will continue to buy consistently from stateside farmers in the long term.

Desmond O'Rourke, a Washington State University professor emeritus who has studied China and agriculture since he visited there in the early 1980s, said the Chinese government sometimes keeps information to itself.

After this year's spurt of U.S. purchases, Filan said he noticed that China continued buying wheat -- but from other countries during a 30-day period.

"I think they thought by buying grain around the world and especially in the U.S., that that would give them better standing to be a partner in the World Trade Organization," he said.

Other observers said the global wheat market, offers from Canada, Australia and other competing countries, weather patterns, water supplies, crop yields, fuel costs and international politics make it too difficult to forecast whether China's wheat purchases from U.S. growers will continue.

"I don't know if anybody has a crystal ball," said Squires, sitting at his desk and nearly surrounded by charts and graphs.

"But signs point to them needing to import wheat for a while. A lot of it depends on what China is going to do. Are they going to let this production stay down in this area? Or are they going to conclude that it's a lot cheaper to bring this wheat in than to support (its) farmers?"

As a blanket of gray clouds covered Whitman County's Farmington area, near the Idaho state line, farmer Bruce Nelson was preparing to devour his chili and soda cracker lunch at his house on a recent afternoon.

On 4,000 acres, he grows white wheat, peas, lentils and barley. Yes, he heard the news about increased exports to China. But in the world wheat market, he said, purchases from other countries, such as Pakistan, Japan and Egypt, and the frequency of them and when he sells his commodity also determine sales.

"It hasn't made a big boost in our market," the 53-year-old said. "Maybe it stabilized our prices. By having China, we didn't get any drop in the price."

Last week, farmers said wheat was selling for about $4 per bushel. But in the early 1970s, some said, the selling price was $6 per bushel.

Complicating the matter, Nelson added, are higher costs for diesel, which he said offsets any increase that might be seen from selling wheat to China. Last year, he paid 80 to 90 cents per gallon for the fuel.

Today, he hands over $1.90 to $2 per gallon. He uses 20,000 gallons of diesel per year.

"We're still not making enough money per bushel to really get anybody excited that grows wheat," he said. "You're not getting enough return in wheat country to really put money back in."

Colfax wheat farmer Jim White, 56, knows China is a place to watch, though. Since the 1980s, he has visited Asian countries, including China, as a trade delegate to talk about how U.S. wheat can be used.

About three years ago, on a trip to the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, he saw stark changes from the past, when many people in China wore dark, peasantlike clothing and rode bicycles.

He saw people driving their own automobiles and using state-of-the-art cell phones.

"You would walk by these little bakeries, which were bigger now, and they would have a birthday cake laying there or wedding cakes," he said. "We were seeing the middle class expand."

As an Eastern Washington farmer, one thought quickly entered his mind: Bakeries use soft white wheat.

China's recent market entry coincides with a shift among some Chinese farmers who are specializing in higher-profit, more labor-intensive agriculture, such as apples, Wahl and O'Rourke said. That suits the world's most populous country well, but it is a move away from production of crops such as wheat.

Wahl noted that as incomes increase in countries such as China, it's likely that quality wheat will be in greater demand, though that consumption can level off as earnings rise. China, which has about 1.3 billion people today, is expected to have a population of up to 1.7 billion people in the next 20 years, he added.

"There's another country the size of the U.S. that they are going to add in terms of consumption," he said. "Even if wheat consumption per capita plateaus, you still have upward demand from growing population."

O'Rourke recalled when Taiwanese trade officials visited the United States and bought numerous goods and products. After those purchases, he said, Taiwan asked for greater U.S. market access.

"This could be part of the game of something larger," O'Rourke said.

By 4:35 p.m., the sun was setting at the Tri-Cities Grain terminal. In that barge in the Snake River, wheat was piling up like sand.

A tugboat eventually will push it down the Columbia River for a port stop, depending on which exporter had bought the commodity and needs to fill an order.

Weber, the terminal operations manager, spotted a tugboat pushing barges packed with wheat and woodchips down the Snake River.

"That might be going to China," he joked.

By June, Squires said China's wheat imports from the world are expected to reach about 8 million metric tons.

If that happens, according to U.S. government data, China will become the globe's top wheat importer. Currently, the country is in 10th place, behind Mexico, Algeria and South Korea.

[Bond James Bond]

Port of Tacoma

http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/fife/2003/WAFFh030722D_050.jpg

http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/fife/2003/WAFFh030722D_020.jpg

http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/fife/2003/WAFFh030722D_021.jpg

http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/tacoma/2003/WATAh030721D_044.jpg

[Bond James Bond]

Might as well add this, too.

These are the Port of Seattle's other (minor) facilities.

The white thing with the red ship docked next to it on the right is the grain elevator.

On the left, the two piers used to hold imported cars. I'm not sure they do anymore (dunno where they went, probably Tacoma or Portland), but there's been talk of redeveloping that area to non-industrial uses. It's located to the north of downtown.

http://www.aerolistphoto.com/images/wa/seattle/2004/WASEh040617D_233.jpg

[Rainier Meadows]

Cool thread! :okay:

[Nick in Atlanta]

The west coast is so jammed up with imports and so few places to expand that I think both Seattle and Tacoma could expand as much as they wanted and their would still be plenty of business. Now, if only the port of LA/Long Beach could expand and become more efficient.

[Henry79]

Great pictures BJB!

[Bond James Bond]

More news on the Port of Tacoma

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002178754_porttacoma13.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/02/11/2002175317.jpg
Timothy Farrell, Port of Tacoma executive director, stands on tracks at the 171-acre terminal that opened in December for Taiwan's Evergreen Marine — just the start of what could be a big growth spurt for the port. An additional 96 acres of land nearby are owned by the port with the plan of adding capacity.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Acres for expansion

By J. Martin McOmber
Seattle Times business reporter


Just outside Timothy Farrell's office, three looming cranes snatch container boxes off trailers and stack them neatly aboard a ship moored in the Port of Tacoma's gritty Sitcum Waterway.

For the port's new executive director, the movements of workers and machines just outside his window is a constant reminder of what's at stake as Tacoma tries to capitalize on an increasingly rare commodity in the cargo business: space.

Tacoma has it in acres — hundreds of acres, actually. Enough for up to three container dockyards. And that space is like gold when a boom in Asian trade is testing the capacity of every major port from Los Angeles to Vancouver, B.C.

"Of the acreage we have developed [for containers], we could at least double what we got," Farrell said. "It's a significant chunk of the [available] land on the West Coast."

Tacoma is bracing for a major growth spurt this year, thanks in large part to the $210 million terminal that opened in December for Taiwan's Evergreen Marine. The number of cargo containers is expected to jump 19 percent this year and 17 percent in 2006.

Evergreen's relocation has allowed Tacoma to move other major shipping lines to larger terminals and to lure a new customer, Taiwan's Yang Ming Marine.

Evergreen's 171-acre terminal is the largest and most expensive in the port's history, but it is not the last. Along the eastside of the Blair Waterway — on land now used for a wood-chip plant and a floating casino — the port is laying the groundwork for further expansion.

In 2003, the port bought 96 acres of nearby land from Kaiser Aluminum. Last year, it signed an economic development agreement with the Puyallup Tribal Council to move the Emerald Queen Casino and jointly develop the tribe's waterfront property.

Seattle, which has expanded and modernized its three main cargo terminals in recent years, doesn't have the same room to grow. With improvement in equipment and technology, Seattle estimates that its container docks could handle about 3 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) a year. TEUs are the standard measure for cargo containers.

With Evergreen's new terminal, Tacoma figures it could move about 2.8 million TEUs. Additional terminals on the Blair Waterway would allow Tacoma to move even more.

Seattle and Tacoma are poised to snatch a greater share of the trade boom with Asia than almost anyone expected, even as recently as last year. A study commissioned by the Washington Public Ports Association predicted a moderate 4 percent growth in Puget Sound cargo.

Instead, by November, Seattle hit a record 1.6 million TEUs, nearly 17 percent more than 2003 with a month left to count. Tacoma volume remained relatively flat at about 1.6 million TEUs through November because it was already handling about as much as it could. That will change in 2005, thanks to the new 171-acre Evergreen terminal.

In fact, the entire Pacific Northwest has seen a remarkable turnaround in recent years, in part due to growing congestion at the giant ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle about two-thirds of the cargo bound for the West Coast.

Shipping companies and major importers, such as Target, are increasingly looking to Seattle and Tacoma as alternative ports for their cargo. The attention has stoked the long-running competition between the two cities.

Seattle lost bragging rights as Puget Sound's busiest container port in 2001, when Tacoma took the crown for the first time.

Competition between the ports took its toll on Seattle starting in the 1970s. Tacoma lured away some of the biggest shipping lines calling on Seattle — including Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Maersk Sealand, K-Line, Evergreen and Hyundai — by offering them their own terminals.

"When they started out, Seattle was everything and Tacoma was tide flats with a pulp mill and a junk yard," said Alec Fisken, a Port of Seattle commissioner. "Then one by one, they picked off some of the big clients from Seattle."

When it came time for Hanjin, one of Seattle biggest clients, to decide whether to extend its lease on Elliott Bay, some feared that the South Korean shipping giant might move to Tacoma. Instead, it signed an extension that could keep it here until 2025.

Farrell downplayed the historic rivalry between the ports, saying that the two cooperate on common issues such as security, roads, rail lines and regulatory policy. And, he said, consolidation among steamship lines means ports have less opportunity to lure new shippers.

Instead, he said, the key is convincing customers to move more cargo through the Pacific Northwest — an issue both ports can work on.

"The battle is for allocation of cargo with existing customers more than moving customers around," Farrell said. "And that is where our interests are normally aligned."

[hkskyline]

Evergreen Opens Tacoma Terminal
14 February 2005
Traffic World

Evergreen Marine opened its 171-acre Pierce County Terminal at the Port of Tacoma late last month, launching a new period of expansion for the Taiwan shipping group. The facility is designed for eventual expansion to 237 acres, including a 108-car intermodal railyard.

"The importance of an efficient intermodal infrastructure has never been greater," said Capt. S.Y. Kuo, vice group chairman of the Evergreen Group. The Pierce County Terminal, which will retain its name but likely will be known, informally at least, as the Evergreen Terminal, "will benefit the economy of the region," he added.

The terminal opening is considered a turning point for the port and the carrier. Tacoma is even more firmly positioned as a major intermodal gateway on the West Coast and the Northwest's major port; it underscores Evergreen's firm commitment to Tacoma as its intermodal gateway to the rest of North America, not simply the Northwest.

Evergreen, Lloyd Triestino and Hatsu Marine, all carrier members of the Evergreen Group, will use the facility. Evergreen operates three trans-Pacific services through Tacoma, with a weekly ship call by each.

The new terminal has 140 acres of terminal and berthing area, featuring 10-inch thick asphalt, plus 31 acres of intermodal rail interchange. The Phase I 12-track intermodal yard accommodates 72 double-stack railcars and is connected to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroads through Tacoma Rail, a regional short-line service.

Tacoma's officials anticipate a big jump in container volume this year, at least 19 percent, fuelled in large part by Evergreen's expanded operations at its new mega-terminal, followed by another 17 percent increase in 2006.

Mike Adams, the port's acting senior director of facilities development, noted that Evergreen's Tacoma volume in January was running about 25 percent higher than its volume in January 2004.

Not all of the port's growth will be because of Evergreen's growth at the port, however. "K" Line will move from Terminal 7 to Evergreen's old Terminal 3-4 and expand its operations at that renovated 75-acre facility. And Yang Ming Line will begin direct services at Tacoma this year at the terminal vacated by "K" Line.

Brendan Dugan, senior director of container terminal businesses, said that unlike other West Coast ports, where land for expansion is increasingly scarce, Tacoma has enough land to handle the estimated needs of its current customers and new ones for at least 20 years. "We estimate that we still have another 700 to 1,000 acres of potential container terminal development area," he said.

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/213186_cargo23.html

Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Puget Sound ports set records
Number of containers handled hits all-time high

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Increased trade with China and more Puget Sound-area import distribution centers contributed to the Port of Seattle reporting yesterday that it handled a record 1.7 million containers last year.

That growth -- a 20 percent increase over 2003 -- pushed Seattle past ports in Vancouver, B.C., and Savannah, Ga., to become North America's eighth-largest container facility.

The containers are known as 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. That description refers to the length of a shipping container and is a standard measurement worldwide.

The numbers marked a high point for the Port of Seattle, which opened in 1911. "We had been watching the numbers in the fall go up dramatically," said Paige Miller, who was Port Commission president last year. "They are great news, but not a surprise."

The Port of Tacoma saw a bump of 3.4 percent last year compared with 2003. The 1.8 million TEUs it handled last year set a record for the port, which opened in 1918.

Tacoma officials also pointed to more trade from China and more import distribution facilities, especially those in Lacey, Sumner, Auburn and Kent, as reasons its numbers were up slightly. Counting the 2004 numbers, Tacoma ranks as North America's seventh-largest cargo port, behind Charleston, S.C., and the Port of Virginia. In 2003, Tacoma was in fifth place.

Tacoma had expected its cargo numbers to remain relatively flat from 2003 to 2004 because one of its international terminals was full. A spokesman said other ports in the country also are soaking up more goods from China and other parts of the world.

The Port of Tacoma hopes its 171-acre Pierce County Terminal, which opened in January, will help accommodate more goods, especially from Asia.

"That has opened up the relief valve and will allow us to experience some significant growth this year and next year," said Doug Ljungren, the facility's business planning manager.

This year, Tacoma expects about 2.1 million TEUs, and Seattle is forecasting a little more than 1.8 million.

Chang Mook Sohn, the state's chief economist, said the seaport cargo numbers illustrate the importance of trade to Washington. Citing 2003 statistics, he said Washington leads California and Oregon in terms of exports and personal income.

Exports from Washington account for about 17 percent of the total personal income for state residents, he said. In comparison, California's exports account for 8 percent, Oregon 10 percent and the United States 7.3 percent.

He expects the two Puget Sound ports to see more apparel from China this year because of the lifting of a production quota for countries.

Both Puget Sound facilities saw more goods pass through its ports last year, partly because of congestion and a labor shortage at Southern California facilities. Despite those problems, the Port of Long Beach, Calif., also reported a large cargo volume increase. That port said it handled nearly 5.8 million TEUs, or a 24 percent rise from 2003.

Port of Seattle commissioners said yesterday that the port had an overall net operating income, before capital depreciation, of $153 million last year.

In 2003, it was $112.7 million. The seaport's net operating income rose to $30.8 million last year, or a 37 percent increase from $22.5 million in 2003.

Miller said those increases could be invested back into the port.

[Man G]

Does anyone know whether the Port of Tacoma is covered by Seattle port authority? I need to know for my dissertation!
Cheers.

[Bond James Bond]

^No, they are totally seperate entities.

[Man G]

Thanks. It was just that the figures I obtained from MARAD for the first half of 2004 had Seattle and Tacoma at exactly the same number of TEUs handled, so I thought they had divided a number by two.

[fredcalif]

It looks nice

[Bond James Bond]

Some kinda neat stuff I just found on the Port of Tacoma's website.

Here's their webpage on their plans for future expansion:
http://www.portoftacoma.com/building.cfm?sub=43&lsub=24

Here's what one of the berths looks like now
http://www.portoftacoma.com/img/building_future/vision2000/sitcum/sitcum_1.jpg

And here's what they're planning to expand it to in the future
http://www.portoftacoma.com/img/building_future/vision2000/sitcum/sitcum_2.jpg

Here's what one of the turning bays looks like now
http://www.portoftacoma.com/img/building_future/vision2000/blair/blair_1.jpg

And here's what they want to expand it to in the future
http://www.portoftacoma.com/img/building_future/vision2000/blair/blair_2.jpg

There's some other stuff like that on the webpage above. Not too exciting, but I thought I'd show it anyway. :D

[Q-TIP]

Great photos.

What is the airport in the top left of the Seattle aerial? Is it a major cargo airport? Commercial airport? Neither? Military?

Also how far are the ports apart from each other?

[Nemo]

Great pictures!! Thanks.

All seaports are equal important to be shown in this section! :)

[Bond James Bond]

Great photos.

What is the airport in the top left of the Seattle aerial? Is it a major cargo airport? Commercial airport? Neither? Military?

Also how far are the ports apart from each other?
The airport is Boeing Field. It's used mostly by Boeing for takeoffs and landings of the planes it repairs or upgrades in the big building next to the runway. It's also used for some cargo planes as well as a small number of chartered passenger planes.

Seattle and Tacoma are about 30-40 miles apart, or thereabouts.

[Nick in Atlanta]

The airport is Boeing Field. It's used mostly by Boeing for takeoffs and landings of the planes it repairs or upgrades in the big building next to the runway. It's also used for some cargo planes as well as a small number of chartered passenger planes.

Seattle and Tacoma are about 30-40 miles apart, or thereabouts.

@Bond James Bond: Boeing Field is also used for testing new Boeing aircraft. I know that the new Boeing 777-200LR, Longer Range plane was flown from Paine Field up in Everett where Boeing builds its widebodies, down to Boeing Field, where it will be tested over the next year or less (not sure.) Of course, most of the testing is done in the air at this stage. :)

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/217129_port23.html

Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Tacoma port needs 550 dockworkers
By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A surge in cargo from China has triggered a hiring spree at the Port of Tacoma, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, which is responsible for dockworkers there, needs about 550 additional part-time people as early as May.

The search for workers follows record container numbers last year that moved through the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. Both facilities expect more goods this year as Asian countries, China in particular, continue to be global manufacturers and distribution companies operate out of the Puget Sound area.

"You've seen what's gone on up and down along the West Coast in recent months," said Conrad Spell, president of Tacoma-based Local 23. "Everybody has been starving for labor."

At the Port of Seattle, there also is an expectation that more dockworkers will be needed. The ILWU president for Local 19 in Seattle did not immediately return telephone calls yesterday for comment.

For the Tacoma jobs, applicants need to mail their names and contact information on a postcard by tonight.

A private company will draw about 800 cards late this month, Spell said, and people's names will be listed at www.ilwu.org and www.pmanet.org in April.

Those selected will go through training for up to three weeks and will be responsible for operating trucks, forklifts and securing containers.

Workers will be eligible for pay from $20.66 to $33.06 per hour, depending on the shift. Spell said the new longshore workers would receive assignments after full-time or more senior union members are assigned positions.

In the past year, he said, labor was so limited in Tacoma that some shippers were unable to find crane operators and drivers to complete jobs. He said the congestion has eased with about 170 new part-time workers who started late last year.

Spell was uncertain how many people would send application cards for this round of hiring. But late last year, when his union needed to fill 245 positions, more than 5,640 people mailed in cards.


HOW TO APPLY:

Send a 3 1/2-by-5 1/2-inch postcard

with your name, mailing address, telephone number and signature to:

Joint Port Labor Relations Committee -- Tacoma, Attn: 2005 Casual Process, Box 16, 520 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98101. Cards must be postmarked by tonight.

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2005/03/28/story1.html

Puget Sound Business Journal
From the March 25, 2005 print edition
Cargo surge: Jumbo ships will test region
Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer

Puget Sound cargo ports are bracing for a surge in container traffic and ever-larger container ships, as evidenced by the recent arrival of the largest cargo ship ever to stop at the Port of Seattle.

Container projections are so robust that some officials are concerned about the ability of Puget Sound ports and railroads to keep up.

Port and railroad officials don't want a deluge of containers to overwhelm the region's docks and rails, leading to massive cargo bottlenecks on the scale of those experienced last fall in Southern California.

"We're strategizing to make sure we don't drop the ball like Southern California, that it is sustainable," said Mic Dinsmore, executive director of the Port of Seattle.

Port watchers may have gotten a good look at the future of container ships earlier this month, when the COSCO Vancouver arrived at the Port of Seattle.

The ship, the largest container ship to visit the port, stopped in Seattle only to drop off some empty containers. But the COSCO Vancouver is big, capable of carrying 8,000 20-foot-long container equivalents, or TEUs.

Not so long ago, a "big" container ship was one capable of carrying 6,000 TEUs.

Similar mammoth ships are expected to become increasingly common at the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, as ocean carriers switch to larger ships so they can manage the growing volumes of trans-Pacific trade.

The ships are getting special attention at the Port of Seattle, which is launching a project to expand the port's capacity to 3 million TEUs annually in five years or less. Much of that traffic will probably arrive on ships that are much larger than those used today.

Container ships are also being closely watched by officials of the two major railroads that serve Puget Sound container ports -- the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and the Union Pacific.

The two railroads have been spending money to increase their capacity on routes over the Cascades. Because of their investments, Puget Sound ports were able to handle the surge of cargo that was diverted to the Northwest when Southern California ports backed up.

But the railroads have a challenge ahead of them. They have to keep up with the Port of Seattle, which expects its cargo volume to increase 50 percent in the coming years. The Port of Tacoma expects a similar increase.

Currently, about 70 percent of the containers that arrive at the two ports move to eastern markets by rail. And container trains take one of two routes: through the Stevens Pass tunnel or along the Columbia River.

But Stevens Pass is already at capacity with about 25 trains daily. The Columbia River route has been expanded to about 40 trains daily, with capacity for 15 percent to 20 percent growth, said BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas.

"We're confident we can meet the projected demands," Melonas said.

Meanwhile, the Port of Seattle has its own challenges. It is trying to handle more containers with an array of logistical and technological changes.

The only way the port can increase its cargo volume is to boost productivity, because it has no more land to expand its cargo terminals.

"We're seeing rapid growth here, and we can easily eat up our current capacity. That's why we're looking ahead," said Michael Burke, director of cargo and cruise services for the Port of Seattle.

Right now the port's three big terminals -- 5, 18 and 46 -- are handling about 4,000 to 5,000 TEUs per acre per year, which is below their current capacity. It is also below the West Coast standard of about 6,500 to 7,500 TEUs per acre, Burke said.

By comparison, some Asian ports achieve volumes of 10,000 TEUs per acre and beyond, partly by building garage-like container storage areas and by feeding the terminals from barges.

The port wants to increase volume with new, container-moving machinery that will allow containers to be stacked five high, as well as new staging areas at terminals 30 and 106, where containers can be held for later loading.

The port also wants to install new technologies, such as scanners, that can read information on the sides of containers as they're driven into the terminals, Burke said.

"If you can get the cargo moving more quickly through the terminal, you can increase the capacity of the terminal and get beyond that 7,500 TEU level," he said.

The bigger ships present their own challenges.

Their growing size, which creates certain economies of scale, is also generating a fierce debate in the industry about how big is too big.

The new ships are so large, with containers stacked 18 wide across their decks, that fully loading and unloading one can take up to three days, even with the fastest available cranes.

They're far too large to fit through the Panama Canal, and they ride so deep in the water they can't be handled at certain West Coast ports, notably the Port of Portland.

The cargo from just one ship, if it were unloaded all at once and 70 percent of that were destined for points inland, would fill up 16 standard, 350-container trains, or about two thirds of the daily capacity at Stevens Pass. :eek:

The Port of Seattle's Dinsmore believes the optimal ship size for many carriers will balance out at about 5,000 TEUs. He believes the large ships will be put to use mostly on major routes between the largest pairs of ports, which will lessen the effects of long loading and unloading times.

"You had better have the infrastructure on both ends of that to rapidly move that commerce," Dinsmore said.

But Mark Kadar, an analyst for Mercer Management Consultants in Boston, said he believes 8,000-TEU ships will become an industry standard, pointing out that many of the world's largest carriers have them on order.

"For those major arterial trades, there's pretty clear consensus that the 8,000-TEU ship will be the workhorse for next 10-plus years," he said, adding that anything larger may overwhelm other links in the routes and create "terrible bottlenecks inland."

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma have spent millions of dollars preparing their facilities for larger ships, which is partly why the COSCO Vancouver was able to show up on relatively short notice.

Observers don't expect regular appearances by 8,000-TEU vessels in Puget Sound soon, although some may be redeployed here if import cargo gets jammed up in Southern California during the fall holiday rush, as it did last year.

More likely: Carriers in the next year or so may start moving the next generation smaller container ships to Puget Sound. Most of those ships carry about 6,000 TEUs.

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002229122_portofseattle03.html

Seattle Times
Sunday, April 3, 2005
Keeping cargo on the move
By Alwyn Scott
Seattle Times business reporter

John Munson, a lanky 23-year-old in a hooded sweat shirt, recently stopped working construction and running chairlifts to embark on a lucrative new career.

Armed only with a high-school diploma, he could eventually take home a six-figure income. Unlike many blue-collar workers, his future is strengthened, not threatened, by factories in Asia.

The job? Longshoreman at Seattle's seaport, loading and unloading the massive ships riding a wave of global trade.

"It's a good gig if you can get all the way up to the top," Munson said as one of the Port's iconic red cranes whirred overhead, hefting a 40-foot container onto a waiting vessel three football fields long.

Munson and several thousand other new waterfront recruits are part of the massive infrastructure being assembled at West Coast dockyards to handle record Asian cargo and surging pleasure-cruise business.

Last year, shortages of dockworkers and equipment left a logjam of ships sitting outside the big West Coast ports at Long Beach and Los Angeles.

Seventy-eight ships diverted course to avoid the snarl, many docking in Seattle, Tacoma and Oakland, according to the Marine Exchange of Puget Sound, an organization that tracks cargo ships.

This year, even more cargo appears headed this way. Seattle's total container volume is up 44 percent so far this year, after rising 19 percent in 2004. Forecasts for this year envision a jump of a further 10 to 18 percent for the entire West Coast.

"Certainly we're going to see the volumes grow, and you're going to have periods of time when the cargo coming through will present some challenges," said Mike Moore, a vice president at the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, representing major ship owners and terminal operators on the West Coast.

Seattle and Tacoma have capacity for more cargo, he said. But it remains to be seen whether railroads, ports and trucking companies can work together to avoid congestion.

Some say West Coast ports already are straining to unload cargo and get it on rails without delays. The start of the cruise season next month means even more work on the dock — porting luggage, loading food and hauling away trash.

If Seattle and other ports can't cope, they could see vital business head elsewhere.

Of the ships diverted last year, "an alarming number went through the Panama Canal to East Coast ports," said Robert Bohlman, the marine exchange's executive director in Seattle. "Cargo that comes here [to Seattle] is discretionary — it doesn't have to come here."

Trade-rule changes

The explosion of cargo comes from a loosening of trade restrictions that has prompted companies to move manufacturing overseas, especially to China.

Today, the United States is importing more and exporting less than ever before. The U.S. trade deficit, the gap between imports and exports, reached a record $666 billion, up more than 25 percent from 2003.

This year, a turbocharger kicked in: A longstanding system of quotas on textiles and garments expired, ending restrictions on China.

The results are stark: Apparel imported from China through Seattle jumped nearly four-fold in January, to 1,450 containers, from a year ago.

Overall containerized cargo in Seattle shot up 54 percent in January, faster than any other North American port, according to port officials.

To many it is not merely a blip. "I don't even entertain that," said David Olson, a political-science professor at the University of Washington who studies ports. "Those that do don't know what they're talking about."

If ports, rail lines and all the other parts of the infrastructure mobilize, Olson predicted, "cargo on the West Coast ... is going to double in the next 15 years."

Munson is part of the mobilization. The number of dockworkers has jumped 28 percent, or 4,358 positions, since 2004, and stands at 20,147, according to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, tallying union members and "casuals" in line to join the ILWU.

"That's a tremendous increase," said Stanley Aronowitz, a labor expert and professor at the City University of New York. The hiring reversed a decline from 40,000 in the 1950s and '60s, he said.

And it's still not enough, said Steve Stallone, spokesman for the ILWU. This month Seattle will have added 140 new union members, expanding to about 700, with another 700 casuals, said Herald Ugless, president of ILWU Local 19. Tacoma plans to add 100 members over three months, bringing membership to 847, up from 672 last year. It also is seeking another 550 casuals, said Conrad Spell, president of Local 23.

Yet despite all the hiring, Stallone and others expect labor shortages and lack of equipment will snarl ports this year. "The amount of increase in cargo is faster than the increase in infrastructure," Stallone said.

Last year is a good guide. Despite hiring, shortages of drivers to move containers meant even casuals got plenty of work. Munson says he worked seven days a week for four straight weeks during the peak last fall, lashing cargo containers into the holds of ships.

The job pays $18 an hour — more than Munson made at construction — but the work is less steady. These days he spends three or four hours a day at the union hall waiting for a work assignment and lands only 10 or 20 hours a week.

So Munson recently learned to drive a semitrailer at Seattle's bustling Terminal 18, which will qualify him for more jobs and probably double his hours.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be smiling this big in a truck," he said, "but I am. I love it."

In Seattle, the trucking course trains six drivers a week, trying to meet demand. Organizers were "a little late" setting up programs, said Tom Ralls, the lead trainer. "On a really heavy day, there's still not enough semi drivers."

Vindication of upgrading

The extraordinary rise in Port business appears to vindicate Seattle's decision to refurbish its waterfront docks in recent years. But it also points to the challenges ahead.

Instead of converting Terminal 46 to offices and condos, the Port of Seattle spent $72 million to upgrade it as a cargo terminal for Hanjin Shipping of Korea.

Seattle's Terminal 25 is aiming to open in July for domestic shipper Matson, freeing space Matson uses at Terminal 18. SSA Marine, the Seattle-based operator of Terminal 18, is bringing in cranes that will allow it to stack more boxes on its yard.

The improvements were part of $1 billion the Port has poured into improvements over the last 13 years, expanding cargo-handling space to about 570 acres, from 230.

Terminals 5, 46 and 25 all have ample capacity for more cargo, said Port of Seattle spokesman Mick Schultz. "It's a myth that the Port of Seattle doesn't have room to grow."

Indeed, though Seattle's share of the West Coast market continues to decline, the rate of slippage slowed to about half a percent a year in the latest decade from nearly 1 percent a year from 1984 to 1994, according to Bob Hannus, a researcher at Marine Digest and Cargo Business News.

Some docks have added radio-frequency-identification tag systems, Moore said.

Tacoma opened a giant new terminal for Evergreen Marine, a Taiwanese shipping line last year, capable of eventually handling 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent containers (TEUs) a year. Some forecasts expect Tacoma's container volume, which topped Seattle in 2001, to rise 30 percent this year.

Big importers like Wal-Mart have built distribution centers in Washington state so cargo containers can be moved off the waterfront more quickly, Schultz said.

Railroads are adding cars, track and workers, too. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway expects Seattle cargo to increase 18 percent this year. It says it has room to increase its capacity 40 percent by reconfiguring some track.

Bottlenecks expected

But even with all the workers and expansion, many expect bottlenecks when shipping peaks in the summer and fall. Problems could foul up supplies for factories, retailers and consumers, depressing business during the holiday season.

West Coast ports are straining, said Hubert Wiesenmaier, executive director of the American Import Shippers Association, based in New Rochelle, N.Y., which negotiates rates with ocean carriers on behalf of its members, who are importers.

"There have been serious and constant delays in pushing containers through Long Beach and L.A.," he said. "I think they are running pretty close to capacity."

Some shippers have started rerouting Asian cargo to New York and other eastern ports via all-water routes through the Panama and Suez canals.

Bypassing the West Coast adds time and expense, but at least cargo is more likely to arrive on time.

Getting goods delivered on schedule is crucial, as stores and factories rely on supply chains to provide just-in-time delivery to keep sales and production lines humming.

New megaships, such as the 8,000-container Vancouver that docked in Seattle last month, are 30 percent bigger than the previous generation of ships. And 10,000-TEU ships are on their way. While efficient for shippers, the big ships can overwhelm docks and railyards, causing days of delay.

For now, though, Munson and other new Port workers appear to have hit a rare blue-collar sweet spot. Since their peak in the 1970s, U.S. manufacturing jobs have disappeared by the thousands as industry has shifted to lower-cost workers overseas.

Many former U.S. industrial workers have taken service jobs that typically are lower-paid than the ones they lost.

"One day I'll be doing that," Munson said, pointing at the cab of a hulking crane, where operators earn $40 an hour, noting it may take 15 years to get there.

"That's definitely something to aspire to."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/03/31/2002226418.jpg
A container ship from the P & O Nedlloyd line, right, slowly steams ahead to dock in front of another ship Wednesday at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 on Harbor Island.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/04/01/2002227640.gif

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/03/31/2002226427.jpg
John Munson, 23, is one of thousands of new waterfront recruits for West Coast dockyards. He is standing near the M.V. Cosco Vancouver, right.

[hkskyline]

Seattle, Tacoma near box records
TRAFWD0020050512e15b00003
11 May 2005
Traffic World

SEATTLE -- The container surge at the Pacific Northwest ports of Seattle and Tacoma continued during the first quarter, putting each hub in position to shatter container volume records set just last year.

And if they sustain those numbers for the rest of the year the region's two major U.S. ports combined could surpass 4 million TEUs.

Through the first three months of the year total boxes handled at the Port of Seattle have surged by 40 percent to 486,349 TEUs, putting it on a pace to reach nearly 2 million TEUs for the full year. The pace in March slowed marginally from previous months this year but the port still saw volumes during the month increase 32.4 percent to 164,447 TEUs.

Containers in the port's bread-and-butter Asia trade jumped more than 47 percent during the quarter to 396,519 TEUs.

At the Port of Tacoma, March was the first month this year that it out-paced its rival to the north. Container volume for the month was nearly 181,000 TEUs, an increase of 14.9 percent. Its three-month total of 451,532 TEUs represented a 14.3 percent jump, also putting it on pace for nearly 2 million TEUs in 2005. Officials anticipate the port will easily surpass that total now that the new Pierce County Terminal, which opened in January and is operated by Evergreen Marine, is fully operational and additional longshore labor has been added to the port's rolls.

As they did last year, Seattle and Tacoma are benefiting from the continuing surge in Asia-Pacific trade.

In addition, carriers have expanded services into the Pacific Northwest this year following the congestion and intermodal equipment shortages that plagued Southern California ports last year.

Bill DiBenedetto is managing editor of Pacific Shipper.

[hkskyline]

Friday, June 10, 2005 - 12:00 AM
Commission kills housing plan for Port land
By Alwyn Scott
Seattle Times

In a surprise move, the Port of Seattle Commission yesterday rejected the idea of allowing apartments and condos alongside an office-industrial park it plans to develop between the Magnolia and Queen Anne Hill neighborhoods.

Port staff yesterday proposed up to 700,000 square feet of housing on 15 acres at the southwest edge of the site, near Elliott Bay and outside a formal industrial zone.

But commissioners asked the staff to remove housing from the plan, saying it would be a mistake to build homes so close to bustling Piers 90 and 91, where fishing trawlers and oil barges tie up, and near fish-processing plants and refrigerated warehouses.

"The housing they proposed was looking on the two marine terminals and the industrial activity already there," said Commissioner Patricia Davis. "Historically, people who own valuable homes get tired of noise and lights all day and all night."

The Seattle City Council last month voted against housing on most of the Port-owned site.

The Port will hold a public hearing on the revised plan — excluding housing — at its regular meeting Tuesday. It is expected to vote on the plan in July.

Yesterday's move, approved by the four commissioners present, likely would cut the Port's potential profit from the 57-acre wedge of industrial land, and increase the risk of the real-estate project.

The Port plans to spend $22 million to prepare the site. It hopes income from leasing the land to developers will shore up its finances, create jobs and improve the environment, lifting its so-called "triple bottom line."

Housing has the best return and lowest risk among the uses proposed, which also include maritime industry, light manufacturing, office space, research facilities and retail, said Mark Griffin, manager of the Port's real-estate investment group, who presented the proposal yesterday.

Davis said eliminating housing "does lower the revenue stream right off the bat, apparently."

However, the commission's move appears in line with City Council views.

The council voted last month against any housing on land that is part of the Ballard Interbay Northend Manufacturing and Industrial Center, a specially designated industrial zone that overlays most of the site.

Yesterday's staff proposal skirted the city's objections by placing the housing on land just outside of the zone but still on Port property. "We have not ignored the action that the city took last month," Griffin said.

"There was a lot more housing in here before," added Craig Kinzer, a consultant who helped formulate the proposal. Indeed, under earlier drafts, the Port could have sought to add up to 2.1 million square feet of housing.

The so-called North Bay plan has divided residents and business interests. Wealthy neighborhoods near the site would like to see housing but want to avoid heavy traffic, bright lighting and 24-hour noise from manufacturing, said Victor Barry, president of the Magnolia Community Club.

"If we get 110-foot buildings and add lots of density, we would have to change the name from North Bay to North Los Angeles," he said. "That would create too much density and gridlock."

There is only one arterial road through the area, 15th Avenue West.

The Port has assured Barry's group it wouldn't allow big-box retail stores in the area.

But the commission's move should appease business interests that don't want apartments and condos crowding into the city's remaining industrial zones.

"Anybody from the industrial sector ought to be concerned about the loss of industrial property to housing," said Warren Aakervik, owner of Ballard Oil and president of the Ballard District Council.

"That's the only location where you can go from a rail line to the water without crossing a city street."

On a broader level, Aakervik said, the Port shouldn't help non-industrial developers, even if that shores up its weak finances.

"Is the Port's bottom line the amount of money they generate financially or is the bottom line really the importance for the city?" he asked.

He said businesses are interested in moving to North Bay, but the Port charges too much rent. "You don't need to spend $22 million to attract businesses there," Aakervik said. "You just need to put a realistic price on it. If the idea is to maximize your dollar, I don't know if it will ever fill up."

But Mark Knudsen, deputy managing director of the seaport, said the Port charges monthly rates ranging from 8.5 cents a square foot for bare land up to 50 cents a square foot for space in Port-owned buildings.

"If you looked around," he said, "those rates are on the verge of being too competitive."

[hkskyline]

More Japan Ships Shifting To Seattle To Avoid Delays At LA
2 July 2005
Nikkei Report

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Japanese shipping companies are taking a close look at their container shipping routes between Asia and North America to avoid congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach ahead of the Christmas sales season.

Transports from Asia to North America peak in October and November as exports of products intended for sale during the Christmas season surge. But in the past several years, the ports of Los Angels and nearby Long Beach, the main sea cargo gateways to North America, started getting crowded around the July 4 Independence Day celebration.

Last year, some container ships had to wait around a week before they could offload their cargo because of the congestion. This not only caused some firms, including Japanese consumer electronics and automakers, to suffer lost production and sales, but also drove some companies to pay extra to switch to air transportation.

To avoid a repeat of last year's trouble, Nippon Yusen KK (9101) plans to add a new route in July that will connect Shanghai with Seattle and Vancouver via Busan, South Korea, increasing the number of weekly trips from Asia to the North American West Coast from three to four.

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (9107) has raised the carrying capacity of its container ships connecting Asia and North America by 14% by upgrading its fleet in March. In addition, the company plans to split up its North America-Asia-Europe services into North America-Asia and Asia-Europe legs this month to keep the impact of delays at North American ports to minimum.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (9104) in mid-June changed the operation schedule for one of its five weekly Asia-North America services so that the ship docks at Oakland and unloads as many containers as possible before sailing on to Los Angeles.

Aside from route changes, Nippon Yusen plans to spend around 10 billion yen to hike the processing capability of its container terminal at the Los Angeles port by 15% over the next two to three years.

Mitsui O.S.K. is considering enhancing its processing capacity by computerizing some operations.

And Kawasaki Kisen has expanded its container terminal at Seattle's Tacoma seaport.

[hkskyline]

Port of Seattle Sues Northwest Airlines
Agency Claims Carrier Broke Pact Intended for Sea-Tac Soil Cleanup
6 July 2005
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The Port of Seattle has filed suit against Northwest Airlines, accusing the company of polluting soil at the Sea-Tac Airport with jet fuel and solvents, then breaking an agreement to pay for cleanup.

The suit lists a litany of jet fuel spills beginning in 1981 and includes a 5,000-gallon spill in or about 1986 that killed fish in Des Moines Creek and a broken underground pipeline that in April 1992 "caused a release of fuel so significant that fuel pooled 30 to 40 feet below ground surface on the floor of the airport's underground baggage conveyor system tunnel."

The issue came to a head when, in the late 1990s, the airport began preliminary work on modernizing and expanding its South Terminal and its fueling system. The work required excavation of contaminated soil and, under terms of the port's lease agreement with Northwest, the airline was responsible to "bear the cost of remediation and disposal of the soil" it contaminated, according to the lawsuit.

At first, Northwest accepted that obligation, the suit says. Then a disagreement arose about how much contamination in soil was required to trigger handling it as a hazardous waste. Northwest wanted to allow contamination levels more than twice as high as the port, according to the lawsuit. Port officials were worried that using the higher level would result in improper disposal of contaminated soil in violation of state laws and regulations.

The port began excavation in 2000 using its lower contamination standard and started sending invoices to Northwest, which the airline paid. In August 2001, a new law made cleanup standards for fuel-tainted soil 10 times more stringent. All remaining excavation would have to meet the new standards, according to the port.

But Northwest "refused to honor its obligations under the lease" and refused to pay for proper disposal of soil unless it reached the higher contamination level the airline believed was the appropriate standard.

In order to avoid delays in the $590 million airport expansion project, the airport continued its construction program and continued to bill Northwest for disposal of contaminated soil. Northwest's unpaid invoices exceed $4 million, according to the lawsuit.

Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch, who was reached after business hours yesterday, said he could "not comment at this time."

The suit, first filed in King County Superior Court and then moved to U.S. District Court, seeks unspecified monetary damages, triple damages for alleged violations of state law, as well as attorneys' fees.

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002592235_port30.html

Sunday, October 30, 2005
Port of Tacoma expands and Asian trade is booming
By Alwyn Scott
Seattle Times business reporter

Drums roared as two dancers in a lion costume leapt about a small stage, surrounded in the distance by hulking cargo cranes.

With the Chinese lion dance and the mayor looking on, Tacoma recently opened a new shipping container dock — the third renovated cargo hub the port has opened this year.

The Olympic Container Terminal is leased to Yang Ming Lines of Taiwan, whose only other exclusive foreign terminal is in Los Angeles.

The dance, in which the lion spreads prosperity and blessings to the community, was no mere frill. Tacoma's three new terminals — its largest expansion ever — echo booming Asian trade that is bringing jobs to Tacoma. The port says more than 43,000 "family-wage" jobs in Pierce County are connected with its activity, up from 28,000 five years ago.

With the surge in cargo forecast to continue, Tacoma's "terminal shuffle" over the last two years has vastly expanded its docks — and set the stage for further growth.

Tacoma nearly doubled, to 525 acres, its land for unloading the giant container ships that now carry most of the world's goods.

The expansion was larger and less costly than Seattle's.

Even so, Tacoma is only just keeping up with demand.

All six of Tacoma's container terminals have expansion options that would add an additional 100 acres if fully developed. "We could probably expand all of our existing terminals in the next five years" to meet the needs of cargo handlers, said Timothy Farrell, executive director of the Port of Tacoma. "And on top of that, we have interest from new customers."

Valuable land

Tacoma's approach to development centered on two goals: giving terminal operators what they want but also ensuring its own bottom line stays in the black.

Farrell said Tacoma first designs the terminal with the operator, including the features it wants and what it would cost. Then it requires the operator to sign a lease that would pay for the facility.

"We don't do the construction until the deal is signed, so we know how much money we have to work with," Farrell said.

While Tacoma's leases with terminal operators are all different, "they all have minimum commitments to cover debt service and construction costs" within 14 to 30 years, he said.

The efficiency of this approach has attracted customers, and encouraged expansion.

"The industry saw that Tacoma can build a 171-acre container terminal expandable to 237 acres and that sort of perked up their ears," he said, referring to the Pierce County Terminal opened in January.

But Farrell wants to innovate even more.

As West Coast ports grow, space is getting tighter — and more valuable. So Tacoma is considering charging terminal operators fees based on the value of the land.

"We're looking at how much this location is worth to the customer," Farrell said. "What would they be willing to pay to be here?"

Getting cargo inland

To really give the locations value, however, Tacoma needs to ensure that docks, rail lines and highways work seamlessly to speed cargo inland. (More than half of the cargo unloaded at Tacoma and Seattle makes its way east.)

Tacoma cargo sometimes hits a bottleneck. Known as "Bullfrog Junction," it is the spot where five railroad tracks converge. So the port has taken a role in coordinating traffic through the junction, by communicating with container terminals and the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway lines.

"We keep the information ahead of the cargo, so the cargo doesn't have to stop," Farrell said.

Tacoma's emphasis on service has paid off with new customers. Four cargo handlers have moved from Seattle over the years. And Tacoma claims to handle more cargo per acre of land — typically 5,000 containers a year, and as many as 8,500 in some terminals — than Seattle, which says it handles 3,500 to 4,000 containers.

"That's the kind of value we have to deliver to sustain the pricing model we're after," Farrell said.

Tacoma's latest expansion began in 2001. Evergreen Marine, which decamped from the Port of Seattle in 1991, was celebrating 10 years in Tacoma. It had just doubled the size of its Tacoma container terminal. It wanted to double again — quickly.

Tacoma first built a car-import lot, allowing Pierce County Terminal to convert from autos to containers for Evergreen.

Evergreen left Husky Terminal, allowing K Line to move into that larger, renovated space. Then K Line's piers were expanded for Yang Ming Lines, which begin serving the port this month.

Larger than Seattle's

Tacoma's expansion was larger and less costly than Seattle's, which also has been building cargo facilities.

Tacoma developed 210 acres for containers, compared with 101 acres Seattle has added since 1998. Tacoma spent $251 million, compared with $391 million in Seattle.

Part of the difference stems from cheaper land in Tacoma. But Tacoma also has more profit to work with. Over the last six years, Tacoma made a cumulative operating profit of $86 million, after deducting depreciation of its facilities. By contrast, Seattle's seaport lost $40.8 million over the same period, and made a profit in only one of the last six years.

As well, taxpayers bore less of Tacoma's expansion cost. The Port of Tacoma levies 19 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value, compared with 25 cents in Seattle. Because of Pierce County's smaller tax base, the Port of Tacoma collects about $1 for every $6 levied in King County for the Port of Seattle.

Seattle also built facilities that aren't being used. Railroad tracks next to ship berths that were added as part of the $300 million renovation of Terminal 18 are supposed to allow containers to be moved more quickly from ships to trains.

But the terminal operator, SSA Marine, prefers not to use them. Patricia Davis, Seattle's longest-serving Port commissioner, says the industry no longer finds on-dock rail to be most efficient. "Things change," she said.

Tacoma has on dock-rail on four of its six container terminals, and it is heavily used, says port spokesman Michael Wasem. The alternative to on-dock rail is trucking containers out to separate rail yards.

"That means interacting with soccer moms on the highway," Wasem said. "We try to avoid that."

Big future?

Another difference: Tacoma earns money by operating its own rail yards. It also requires terminal operators to pay more if they handle more cargo. Seattle doesn't operate its facilities, and its tenants don't pay extra for moving more freight.

"Our revenue is based on straight land leases and on crane rental, which has no relationship to tonnage," Port of Seattle spokesman Mick Shultz said.

Davis said Seattle's land-rental rate is higher than Tacoma's, and is due to go up in coming years, helping Seattle recoup its investment.

Tacoma's expansion and the addition of Yang Ming will help it handle a record 2.2 million containers this year and 2.4 million next year, according to port forecasts.

The port figures it has capacity to handle 3.3 million containers in 2007, without buying additional land. In five years, the port expects to be actually handling that many containers a year.

Farrell worries road and rail lines across the state will choke that growth. "We're heavily reliant on voters and the railroads. Are there going to be facilities to get the stuff out?"

But even so, Tacoma isn't stopping.

Spokesman Wasem stands on a broad section of land east of the Blair Waterway and points to a vast open space, much of it bordered by deep water. That's where Tacoma aims to develop 300 more acres of terminal space, in partnership with the Puyallup tribe.

"That's the future," he said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/10/26/2002585460.jpg
Expanded container yards: The Port of Tacoma's "terminal shuffle" allowed it to open three expanded container yards this year. The docks are equipped with railroad tracks, allowing "straddle carriers" to move containers directly to rail cars, speeding them to Chicago and other inland destinations.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/10/26/2002585527.jpg
New tenants: Giant cranes hoist cargo from ship to shore at the Pierce County Terminal. Evergreen Marine, which moved to Tacoma from Seattle in 1991, started the "terminal shuffle" when, after doubling the size of its old container yard, it said it wanted to double again.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/10/26/2002585800.jpg
Making room: To make room for the shuffle, Tacoma built a new automobile-import yard. That opened space for two terminals to relocate and make room for a new tenant, Yang Ming Lines, which began serving Tacoma this month.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/10/28/2002590001.gif

[hkskyline]

It looks like a lot of the ports on the West Coast are competing for Asian traffic. Seattle and Vancouver are expanding, and they are so close to each other.

[Bond James Bond]

Another article on Tacoma. One of the local Indian tribes is trying to get in on the action. ;)

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2005/10/31/story7.html

From the October 28, 2005 print edition
Tacoma port prepares for a major expansion
Steve Wilhelm
Staff Writer

The Port of Tacoma, which opened three new or upgraded marine cargo terminals this year, is now maneuvering to develop yet another terminal that would dwarf them all.

At nearly 300 acres in its largest possible configuration, the proposed container terminal is attracting attention from ocean carriers around the world.

Carriers are running out of space on the West Coast at the same time that cargo volumes and ship size are increasing. Large new container terminals have become almost impossible to develop.

"The only place you could find it is Los Angeles or Long Beach, and they've hit the wall in terms of new terminals because of community opposition," said Paul Sorenson, a partner at BST Associates in Seattle, a maritime consultancy. "There's nothing in Seattle of that size."

But bringing the huge new container terminal to fruition is a subtle business, because 150 acres of the site are owned by the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, and tribal leaders have not decided if they want to develop the land on their own or with the port. Until last fall the tribe's Emerald Queen casino was on the property, but the tribe has since moved the casino to a new site near Interstate 5.

The tribe has been contacted by "several" companies offering to help it develop the site for a container terminal, tribal spokesman John Weymer said, adding that the tribe is just beginning to assess what will serve its needs best.

"It's a huge issue, the future economic growth of this area, and the tribe is very excited about that opportunity," Weymer said. The tribe will use outside experts, as well as its own staff, "to analyze the options best suited to the tribe," he said.

The Puyallup Tribe got the property in 1989 with the resolution of a longtime dispute over the tribe's treaty rights.

The properties in question are on the east side of the Blair Waterway, adjacent to the port's largest new terminal, the 171-acre Pierce County Terminal, which opened earlier this year.

The Blair Waterway, with its 51-foot depth and protected waters, has been the port's most fruitful growth area since the port in 1993 removed the former 11th Street Bridge at the waterway's entrance, clearing a bottleneck.

The port now plans to widen the entire waterway to 850 feet to accommodate huge container vessels capable of carrying up to 15,000 containers. Such ships would be about 50 percent larger than the largest vessels now calling at Northwest ports.

Port of Tacoma Executive Director Tim Farrell, speaking carefully because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the port prefers to reach some kind of joint venture with the tribe to develop the 300 acres.

"We happen to think that's the best option in terms of terminal development, and community development, but if that's not the best for the tribe, we're prepared to go ahead and do some big things just as the port," he said. "One of the things the tribe is doing, is they're looking at diversifying their portfolio of business, and they want to take a close look at it and make sure they know what they're getting into."

If the tribe decides to develop its own terminal on its property, the port could develop a terminal on its current 125 acres plus some other properties it could acquire, Farrell said.

Volume at the port is growing so fast that staff members expect it will handle the equivalent of 2 million 20-foot containers (called TEUs) this year. Just four years ago that was expected to occur in 2008. Now the port directors expect to hit 3 million TEUs by 2009.

Farrell said "five to 10" ocean carriers have been talking to the port about moving into this next large terminal, although he declined to name the interested companies.

With trade with China continuing to boom, and Chinese ports being expanded at a furious pace, a logical candidate to use the proposed terminal might be a Chinese carrier, two of which now call at the Port of Seattle.

"The market right now is pretty hot. There's a lot going on, there are growth opportunities, and the question on our mind is how long will this window stay open?" Farrell said.

If carriers can't find room for big, new terminals within the United States, they may locate at proposed container ports in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, or even Mexico, he said.

While negotiations continue between the port and the tribe, port authorities are preparing their own properties with plans to tear down the Kaiser Aluminum plant on 96 acres that the port bought in 2003. This is the largest single piece of the package the port would commit to the new terminal.

The Tacoma Port Commission also has approved a new general cargo terminal, just 28 acres, that will be developed near the mouth of the Blair Waterway. And plans are under way to expand existing terminals by another 180 acres by developing existing property owned by the port.

"The good news about that, is every single one of our terminals that exists today has room to expand," Farrell said. "Within the next few years, we'll add enough space that it will be like adding another terminal."

[hkskyline]

Seattle sees revenue, container growth for 2006
BY BILL DIBENEDETTO
18 November 2005
Journal of Commerce Online

SEATTLE - The Port of Seattle expects containerized cargo volume to increase 8 percent next year to a record 2.2 million TEUs. It said the increase would help drive a 10 percent jump in the port's net operating income, to $37.5 million.

While the Seattle Port Commission won't vote on the port's 2006 budget until Tuesday, a so-called first reading of the 2006 preliminary budget on Thursday, revealed a generally upbeat forecast for the coming year for the Seaport Division and for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which the port owns and operates. The panel voiced no problems with the budget proposal.

Port-wide, including seaport and airport revenue, port staff estimated a 4.7 percent increase in total operating revenue next year to $421.3 million, compared to the 2005 operating revenue forecast of $402.5 million. Of that total, the Seaport Division's operating revenue next year was projected at $100.7 million, a modest 0.4 percent increase over the 2005 revenue forecast.

The 2006 budget "will show an increase in net income from operations as well as a capital-improvement program of nearly $620 million - all without an increase in taxes," said M.R. Dinsmore, the port's chief executive. "With sustained growth in cargo and air passenger volumes, we are now in the midst of a solid recovery following the business downturn of the past several years. We are excited about the outlook for continued growth in 2006."

The port's capital-improvement program is pegged at $2.5 billion between 2006 and 2010.

The bulk of the port's capital spending next year is earmarked for the Aviation Division, specifically continuing work on construction of a third runway at the airport. But the Seaport Division is planning $118.5 million in capital spending next year, with improvements and upgrades at two container terminals, 18 and 25, accounting for most of that money.

The budget document also sets a timetable for finalizing and implementing its "beyond 3 million container" strategy.

Meanwhile, the port reported that container volumes through October totaled 1.7 million TEUs, up 21.2 percent over the comparable period last year. In October the port handled 193,205 TEUs. At its current pace, the port this year will exceed 2 million TEUs for the first time.

Separately, the port quickly endorsed a bill introduced Nov. 15 by Sens.Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, to improve maritime security and provide funding for additional grant programs.

"The measures contained in the GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act are precisely the kinds of actions we've advocated for some time," said Bob Edwards, president of the Port of Seattle Commission.

The bill would direct $400 million a year into a federal Port Security Grant Program. It also provides new incentives for shippers that demonstrate a sustained commitment to meeting the requirements of the Customs-Trade Partnerships Against Terrorism.

Under C-TPAT, shippers agree to develop, enhance and maintain effective security processes through global supply chains under the supervision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. C-TPAT members get expedited customs clearance in return - the so-called GreenLane. Non-participating shippers are subject to a higher degree of scrutiny by Customs.

[Bond James Bond]

^
Thanks for the article. Go Port of Seattle! :rock:

Meanwhile, a few miles to the south in Tacoma . . .

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002640947_crane23.html

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Cranes shipped from China to Tacoma, ready to work
By Benjamin J. Romano

Seattle Times business reporter

It's not just shoes, Xboxes and other consumer goods that come from China.

Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. (ZPMC), the world's leading manufacturer of the huge steel cranes that unload shipping containers, is delivering two more of its biggest to the Port of Tacoma this week.

The 25-story-high cranes arrive fully assembled from Shanghai, welded onto a specially designed transport ship.

They will be detached and, when the tide is at the right level early next week, will be moved on rails to the wharf at the Port's new Pierce County Terminal.

(A film crew from the History Channel is interested in documenting the event for an episode of the program "Mega Movers.")

These Super post-Panamax cranes — named for the giant ships they serve, which are too big to use the Panama Canal — will join seven others at the Port.

They can reach out two-thirds of a football field to load and unload the semitrailer-sized shipping containers that are a basic unit of international trade.

The cranes cost between $7 million and $8 million each, according to a spokeswoman for Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine, which owns them at Pierce County Terminal.

During the last decade, ZPMC has grown to dominate the global market for this equipment, said Bryon Boerner, electronics-technology manager at the Port of Tacoma.

"They are No. 1 in the world as far as orders" since about 2002, he said, adding that ZPMC takes advantage of its lower costs for labor and steel.

"It's the China story again, good quality and cheaper pricing than others are able to offer," Zoe Double of London-based trade publication Containerisation International said in an e-mail.

"Competing with [ZPMC] is extremely hard for crane manufacturers in other regions," Double said.

ZPMC recently won a $33.2 million contract with the South Carolina State Ports Authority for four Super post-Panamax cranes. According to a Ports Authority spokesman, its bid was more than $831,000 lower per crane than the closest competitor's price.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/11/22/2002640447.jpg
Two fully assembled, 25-story-high container cranes from China arrived in Tacoma's Commencement Bay on Sunday. The cranes, destined for the Port of Tacoma's Pierce County Terminal, are welded onto a specially designed transport ship.

[hkskyline]

Vancouver also got one of these monster cranes earlier this year for its port.

[hkskyline]

November 22, 2005
Port of Seattle budget sees record revenues, lower tax rate
Press Release

http://www.portseattle.org/images/global/img-logo.gif

Record revenues and a reduced tax rate are highlights of a 2006 budget approved by the Port of Seattle Commission today.

Total operating revenues are expected to reach $421 million, an all-time record and an increase of 4.5 percent over 2005.

"The increase in revenues reflects new and expanded facilities we've opened at the airport and seaport recently as well as projected increases in passenger and cargo volumes," said Port of Seattle Commission President Bob Edwards. "We also are expecting higher income from our marine terminals and other revenue sources such as concessions at the airport."

New revenue generating facilities that opened in 2005 include the Central Terminal at the airport and a refurbished Terminal 25 at the seaport.

"While those facilities opened in 2005 we'll see an even greater financial impact in 2006 because they'll generate a full year's worth of revenues," Edwards said.

The Port's tax levy rate will drop in 2006 to 23.4 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation and raise a total of $62.7 million - the same as in 2005. The 2005 levy rate was 25.3 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation. New construction and an increase in the value of properties throughout King County allowed the Port to drop the rate while maintaining the same level of tax revenues.

"The commission continues to make judicious use of the tax levy," Edwards said. "The 2006 levy rate is four-and-a-half cents lower than it was in ten years ago and every tax dollar we collect generates three more dollars in taxes to support schools and other public services. Port investments and activities also bring 194,000 jobs and more than $6.7 billion in payroll to our region."

The Port's tax levy is used primarily for capital investments at the seaport and for paying off bonds issued to finance capital expenditures. A small amount of the levy goes toward sound insulation projects in the Highline School District. No levy money is used for general operating expenses.

The Port's 2006 capital budget envisions a total $552 million in committed projects. The single largest item is work on the Third Runway at Sea-Tac Airport with projected '06 expenditures of $141 million. Other major airport projects scheduled for 2006 include $65.2 million worth of terminal improvements and $61.3 million in airfield security upgrades. The total capital budget for the airport is $418.6 million.

Seaport capital projects next year will include $56.1 million in upgrades at Terminals 18, 25, 91 and 115. Another $27 million will be invested in dock replacement projects at Fishermen's Terminal and Shilshole Bay Marina. The Seaport's total 2006 capital budget is $118.5 million.

Another $14.9 million in capital expenditures is planned by the Economic Development and Professional and Technical Services divisions.

The Port's 10-year capital improvement plan (CIP), a look at long-term anticipated capital expenses presented to the Commission with the budget each year, for the first time includes the potential for the Port to participate financially in the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

"We put in a figure of $200 million, assuming a tunnel option is selected, which could be appropriated over a 10-year period beginning in 2008 or 2009." Edwards said. "It's not a guarantee of funding for the viaduct but it is a demonstration of our interest in maintaining access to the waterfront and freight capacity on the Highway 99 corridor." The commission still would have to vote to appropriate money for viaduct replacement at a later date, he said.

"We're coming off of one of the best years in recent history at the Port," Edwards said. "We've seen 24 percent growth in cargo volumes at the seaport, solid increases in passenger numbers at Sea-Tac, and key construction projects are moving ahead. The Port of Seattle will continue to contribute to this region's economic vitality."

[General Huo]

^
Thanks for the article. Go Port of Seattle! :rock:

Meanwhile, a few miles to the south in Tacoma . . .

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002640947_crane23.html

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Cranes shipped from China to Tacoma, ready to work
By Benjamin J. Romano

Seattle Times business reporter

It's not just shoes, Xboxes and other consumer goods that come from China.

Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. (ZPMC), the world's leading manufacturer of the huge steel cranes that unload shipping containers, is delivering two more of its biggest to the Port of Tacoma this week.

The 25-story-high cranes arrive fully assembled from Shanghai, welded onto a specially designed transport ship.

They will be detached and, when the tide is at the right level early next week, will be moved on rails to the wharf at the Port's new Pierce County Terminal.

(A film crew from the History Channel is interested in documenting the event for an episode of the program "Mega Movers.")

These Super post-Panamax cranes — named for the giant ships they serve, which are too big to use the Panama Canal — will join seven others at the Port.

They can reach out two-thirds of a football field to load and unload the semitrailer-sized shipping containers that are a basic unit of international trade.

The cranes cost between $7 million and $8 million each, according to a spokeswoman for Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine, which owns them at Pierce County Terminal.

During the last decade, ZPMC has grown to dominate the global market for this equipment, said Bryon Boerner, electronics-technology manager at the Port of Tacoma.

"They are No. 1 in the world as far as orders" since about 2002, he said, adding that ZPMC takes advantage of its lower costs for labor and steel.

"It's the China story again, good quality and cheaper pricing than others are able to offer," Zoe Double of London-based trade publication Containerisation International said in an e-mail.

"Competing with [ZPMC] is extremely hard for crane manufacturers in other regions," Double said.

ZPMC recently won a $33.2 million contract with the South Carolina State Ports Authority for four Super post-Panamax cranes. According to a Ports Authority spokesman, its bid was more than $831,000 lower per crane than the closest competitor's price.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2005/11/22/2002640447.jpg
Two fully assembled, 25-story-high container cranes from China arrived in Tacoma's Commencement Bay on Sunday. The cranes, destined for the Port of Tacoma's Pierce County Terminal, are welded onto a specially designed transport ship.

ZPMC (Zhenghua Port Machinery Corporate) has about 70% of port container crane market share in the world. It builds world largest, fastest and most advanced container cranes.

This is a real "Made in China", ZPMC is a state-controlled public listed company in Shanghai.
:cheers:

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/259562_port15.html

Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Big port changes in works
Plan would move cruise ships to make way for cargo expansion
By BRAD WONG AND JENNIFER LANGSTON
P-I REPORTERS

The Port of Seattle gave the initial green light Tuesday to return one terminal to cargo operations, move cruise ships to a new Elliott Bay location and possibly create up to 725 jobs.

The $90 million to $120 million plan -- designed to increase cargo capacity at North America's fastest-growing container port -- still requires commission approval, environmental and traffic reviews and public hearings.

But by a 4-1 vote, the Port Commission authorized $10.8 million for initial design, engineering, traffic and environmental studies. Commissioner Alec Fisken, who wanted more information, voted against the plan.

The draft plan calls for creating a two-berth facility for cruise ships at Terminal 91, which is home to fishing trawlers. Princess Cruises and Seattle-based Holland America Line, both of which operated at Terminal 30 last year, ideally would move there in 2008. Cruise operations based at Pier 66 would remain where they are.

Then, SSA Terminals, a joint venture involving Seattle-based SSA Marine, would expand its cargo operations at Terminal 30 off East Marginal Way.

Port officials have pointed to the growing number of goods coming from Asia as the main reason fueling cargo expansion projects.

For Terminal 30, the plan would mean a return to container cargo use for the facility.

In 2004, after spending about $17 million in renovations, the port opened up Terminal 30 to the cruise business, said port spokesman Mick Shultz.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hurt the global trade of containerized cargo, he said, and as a result, the port had extra terminal space.

But the port is quick to change with the global economy, he added.

Mark Knudsen, seaport deputy managing director, said this expansion plan tells shipping companies that the port "can handle growth requirements into the future."

Jon Hemingway, SSA Marine chief executive, said it is crucial to remain competitive in Puget Sound -- and that his company wants to grow with the port.

Vancouver, B.C., he said, is facing challenges with some inland transportation infrastructure and expanding berth capacity.

"In a way, we have a chance to jump ahead of them here," he said. "We would like to see our market share in this area grow."

SSA Terminals would invest money, likely install new cargo cranes and operate at Terminals 30 and 25, which are adjacent to each other. SSA Terminals, which rents space at Terminal 25 and nearby Terminal 18, would enter into extended leases with the port.

While the option to lease Terminal 30 was not bid out competitively, officials said it made sense for one company to operate the combined facility. The reason: It would have cost up to $200 million for a single company to run just the 37-acre Terminal 30, port officials said.

But in a nod to Seattle voters who want better oversight of the taxpayer-supported port, commissioners approved an amendment in which they will review the lease details before they are formally executed.

"There's fleshing out to do," said Commissioner John Creighton, an attorney. Commissioners pointed out that the lease details take up 80 pages. The commission also has the option to cancel the project if it exceeds $120 million.

The port estimates this expansion project -- for which it still needs to find full funding -- could create 364 new jobs and 361 related positions in the regional economy. Commissioners are expected to take up the question of full construction funding in February 2007.

Herald Ugles, president of Seattle-based International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 19, said his membership -- which staffs Port of Seattle terminals -- could grow by 100 full-time members under the plan.

His union has 780 full-time members and about 460 "casual" or part-time ones.

The idea of converting Terminal 30 back to cargo use, said Ugles, sends a message to developers who might have eyed the land for condominiums.

"Stay off our property. We are going to use this ... for what this property is for and that's maritime," he said. "Deep-sea berths are a rare asset. You can build a condo, you can build a coffee shop anywhere. But you can't build a deep-sea port anywhere."

Reaction to the plan was mixed Tuesday.

If approved, it would require Holland America Line to shift about 70 sailings from Terminal 30 to Terminal 91, said Chief Executive Stein Kruse.

"We're not opposed to it," he said. "But we haven't taken a strong look at it."

If hotels and retail stores are developed at Terminal 91, he said his cruise customers would benefit.

But the proximity of Terminal 30 to state Route 99, Interstate 5 and Sea-Tac Airport is ideal for transporting customers. Traveling from the airport to Terminal 30 typically takes about 15 minutes by bus.

"You can imagine it's not a straight line," he said, referring to Terminal 91. "It adds some time."

Vic Barry, president of the Magnolia Community Club, said the initiative to move cruise ships to Terminal 91 was not a total surprise, since the port had considered it years ago.

Nearby neighborhoods didn't have strong objections, as long as it was done without too much noise, traffic and lighting, he said. Many considered it less disruptive than putting cargo operations there -- something that Queen Anne and Magnolia residents have fought for years.

But now that the port is also pushing to redevelop the adjacent "North Bay" property into a business hub with thousands of employees, the question of how much additional traffic cruise passengers might add "certainly gets our attention," Barry said.

ON THE WEB
To view details on the Port proposal online, visit: goto.seattlepi.com/r86

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20060215/harbor_map0215.gif

[Joshua888]

nice ports

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/265149_cranes01.html

Saturday, April 1, 2006
4 huge cranes coming to port
SSA is expanding container capacity
By KRISTEN MILLARES BOLT
P-I REPORTER

Around noon Sunday, four giant cranes are expected to glide across Elliott Bay aboard the Zhen Hua 1, fresh in from Shanghai.

Weighing 1,200 tons each and stretching 385 feet into the air, the cranes are no small matter -- least of all for SSA Marine.

The Seattle stevedoring and terminal operations company is buying the cranes, valued at $7.1 million each, to replace aging ones owned by the port.

In doing so, SSA hopes to get ahead of the booming container business, which has swelled ports up and down the West Coast.

"Time being money, they have to turn very large ships in a very short amount of time," said Kent Cristopher, the Port of Seattle's general manager of containers. "The efficiency of the berths is dictated by the number of cranes."

Once the cranes are installed -- which could take a week, though further retrofitting of the pier must be done -- a very large ship at Terminal 18 could have four orange cranes hovering over it at once, dipping and rising to unload containers like giraffes sipping water.

In the past five years, the annual number of containers that Terminal 18's cranes have lifted has more than doubled, from 229,000 lifts in 2001 to 495,000 lifts in 2005.

Even so, SSA, which gets paid per lift by the shipping lines, said the terminal is far from running at full throttle.

"I think we could get busier and busier," said Lee MacGregor, general manager of Terminal 18 for SSA. "Right now, we are underutilized."

SSA moved Matson Navigation from Terminal 18 to Terminal 25 last year to help accommodate a surge in imports, but MacGregor said "there has been no new business to take that place."

That will change once the cranes are ready.

Cosco, "K" Line, Yang Ming and Hanjin Shipping, known collectively as the CKYH alliance, are doubling the size of the two ships that they bring into Terminal 18 on a weekly basis, beginning in midsummer.

Competing shipping lines have historically formed partnerships, known as alliances. They gain access to space available on ships going to markets where as individual companies they don't have enough business to merit a solo trip.

"The frequency of their schedules -- how many times per week they call at a given port -- varies, which also makes cooperating useful," said Bob Watters, vice president and managing director of SSA's Asia-related business.

At the moment, about 20 shipping lines call at Terminal 18. Watters said the terminal could handle 800,000 20-foot equivalent units (known as TEUs, which is a measure of a standard container used to determine container capacity) per year, if operating full blast.

With the new equipment, Watters estimated, Terminal 18 would be able to add 550,000 TEUs per year. To do so, however, SSA would have to buy more supporting equipment, which he said it currently has no plans to do.

Even so, the terminal should begin handling a lot more containers, straining the transportation infrastructure that serves the port. Trucks waiting at the terminal gates already stack up like dominos when a vessel is in port.

"There comes a point when we are going to have more gridlock at the port than L.A/Long Beach," said Dan Gatchet, president of the Washington Truckers Association. "If the Port of Seattle's volume went up to 3 million TEUs, we are going to have that."

Gatchet credited SSA for battling that prospect with investments in technology, equipment and off-dock properties for storing containers, but the port as a whole faces unprecedented growth in volume.

The Port of Seattle was North America's fastest-growing container port in 2005, with a record 2.1 million TEUs, up 18 percent from 2004.

SSA's fastest growth has been in containers whose contents will be carried on trucks, not trains.

Half of SSA's containers go to large retail distribution centers in places such as Kent or Sumner, or to SSA's off-dock container yard on East Marginal Way South, where retailers can pick up their own containers.

The other half go to inland cities such as Chicago by train trips that begin in the railyards operated by Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe, which handles most of the Terminal 18 business.

The port let SSA buy its own cranes to shift those capital costs off its books, but it will lose the tariffs it charged for their use. SSA will maintain the cranes.

"It is lower cost for us to buy our own cranes," Watters said. "The port charged us a tariff for using the cranes."

The port spent $42.5 million retrofitting the pier to withstand the cranes' weight and larger reach. The new cranes can reach 203 feet -- enough to cross a ship that is 23 containers wide.

"The shipping lines position the ships like chess pieces for the world service, and we as the port have to be prepared," Cristopher said.

[Harkeb]

Those aerial shots of Seattle are so awesome!

[Bond James Bond]

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/273347_container09.html

Friday, June 9, 2006
Tacoma port set to eclipse Seattle's
Neighbor has room to grow
By KRISTEN MILLARES BOLT
P-I REPORTER

Tacoma will unseat Seattle this year as the Northwest's largest container port, if estimates prove correct.

The Port of Seattle's annual container volume traffic is slowing to between 5 and 8 percent growth this year, according to port staff, after two explosive years during which container volumes jumped by 40 percent.

In a report released Thursday, the Port of Seattle said it thinks handling 4 million TEUs a year is the reasonable upper limit for future traffic, which could be reached as early as 2013. A TEU is a standard measure of container volume meaning twenty-foot equivalent units.

That falls well short of the Port of Tacoma's expectation that it could handle nearly 6 million TEUs by 2025. And while Seattle's port growth is expected to decelerate, Tacoma's is revving up, projected in February to reach 16 percent in 2006.

The Port of Seattle seems to be getting used to the idea of becoming No. 2 behind that pesky upstart, the Port of Tacoma.

"It strikes me that Tacoma's growth is a good thing," Port of Seattle Commission President Pat Davis said at a commission meeting Thursday. Davis said it seems untoward to be "provincial" about regional success. "It attracts cargo to the Northwest, and I would rather the Pacific Northwest grow than somewhere else."

Seattle held its edge last year with 2.09 million TEUs, as both ports hovered beneath the 2.1 million mark. But in December, a major shipping client -- the New World Alliance, composed of APL, MOL and Hyundai -- pulled one of its four routes through Seattle.

Meanwhile, the Port of Tacoma opened two new container terminals last year -- Yang Ming Line's Olympic Container Terminal and the Pierce County Terminal for Evergreen Marine, Hatsu Marine and Lloyd Triestino -- and renovated Husky Terminal to accommodate K Line's expansion. Accordingly, K Line and Yang Ming are sending less cargo through Seattle.

Other factors recently affecting port traffic include a Vancouver trucking strike in January 2005 that sent some cargo Seattle's way, as well as increased efficiency at the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports. They have instituted nighttime truck movement and diverted more than 2 million trucks to off-peak hours, allowing them to accept larger vessels and absorb some of the overflow that has bolstered Seattle's performance over the past two years.

Herald Ugles, the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union's Local 19, said longshoremen have seen a slight, but noticeable, drop in work hours needed at the Port of Seattle.

So far this year, container volumes moving through the Port of Seattle are down 3.9 percent, but Charlie Sheldon, the managing director of the port's seaport operations, said he is confident that the holiday season's wave of goods will help the port beat last year's performance by 5 to 8 percent.

He also noted that Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A., the world's second-largest container ship operator, will begin calling at Terminal 18 next year, bringing with it 221,000 TEUs and an expected 300 jobs.

Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton questioned whether the port could be confident in investing in a new container terminal -- the conversion of Terminal 30 from a cruise-ship dock to a container terminal -- given the market conditions.

The one constant of container traffic is flux, port staffers said, and Seattle has a habit of surging and coasting. But, Creighton said, the United States' severe trade imbalances could eventually destabilize the movement of Asian goods through Seattle.

Despite those factors and the Los Angeles/Long Beach ports' gravitational pull, Port of Seattle Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore said he has no doubts about the conversion of Terminal 30. Port staffers said Seattle should receive some of the cargo flowing from rapidly expanding mega-ports such China's Shanghai and South Korea's Busan.

Pointing out that the port signs 30-year tenant leases, Dinsmore said, "I have a strong belief that the U.S. economy and the flow of commerce will hold for 30 years."

The conversion of Terminal 30, which would send the cruise ships up to Terminal 91, received initial design money in February but has yet to be approved by the Port Commission, which could reject it if costs exceed $120 million.

The port has already budgeted for a spending plan that could raise its TEU volume to 3 million within the next three years, if growth holds at 8 percent. That growth plan factors in Burlington Northern Santa Fe's expansion of its Seattle International Gateway yard, as well as a second shift on Terminal 5's intermodal yard. Hours at the port terminal day gates also would need to become continuous.

Port staff, indicating a need for 20 acres of off-dock container storage yards, have asked the commissioners to consider whether they could play a role in authorizing land purchases, which could then be leased back to terminal operators or shipping lines in need of space.

Just two years ago, the port sold two buildings and 16 acres of land to Charlie's Produce for nearly $18.9 million. The produce company flipped the property last year, getting $28.5 million for it in two separate deals for a profit of 51 percent. Critics called the deal a telling reminder of the port's ineptitude in real estate.

T