Virginia Port Authority interested in takeover of Richmond port

The state of Virginia is considering a takeover of the Port of Richmond, the troubled city-owned marine terminal that's suffered from a sharp decline in business, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, Euclid Infotech reported.

Preliminary talks between the Virginia Port Authority and Port of Richmond officials "are at a very low level at this point, and we're still trying to gauge their interest," Connaughton said.

Any agreement would not involve payment but would give the port authority control over the 121-acre facility on the James River owned by the city of Richmond and operated by private firm PCI of Virginia, he said.

"This is still very early along in the process, so we don't know" how a transaction would be structured, he said. "We do know that we would need to control the facility and that we're not going to put money down. The assumption is that we will make the required investments in the port, market it and operate it."

The Richmond port has struggled since it lost its biggest customer, International Container Lines, last year. The only other ship line to call in Richmond is Iceland-based Eimskip, which cut its service in half last year.

Source: Cargo News Asia