Tacoma port might scale back terminal

The Port of Tacoma and NYK Line might downsize plans for the initial construction of a container terminal on the east side of the Blair Waterway, the News Tribune reported.

The port announced in July 2007 its plans to build a 168-acre container terminal for lease to the Tokyo-based shipping line, which currently calls at the Port of Seattle.

NYK still plans to move its operations to Tacoma.

First and foremost, we will continue to be committed to Tacoma, that's just not an issue, said Peter Keller, president of NYK Line North America.

The terminal is still being designed. But port and NYK officials said this week that the facility planned to open in 2012 could be smaller in scope and size than originally planned.

There's a chance that what we build in the short run will look different than what we originally put forth, said Tim Farrell, the port's executive director.

What that means exactly is still being discussed. But the terminal could open with one berth instead of two, and have fewer railroad tracks or a smaller footprint.

We don't want to make an investment that is not utilized, Farrell said.

And those investments are likely to be substantial.

The port estimates that NYK's terminal will cost US$380 million, with the entire cost of developing the Blair Peninsula - plans that include the NYK terminal, a new terminal for TOTE, (a shipping line serving Alaska), and all the related infrastructure - exceeding $1 billion.

Port commissioner Don Johnson said the recession and ensuing discussions about re-engineering NYK's terminal might result in a less costly project.

We'd like to do it without that kind of money, Johnson said.

International trade has taken a hit in the past year as consumers reined in their spending. Ports up and down the West Coast are seeing their container trade volume drop.

In Tacoma, the port handled 1,715,183 containers from January through November of last year. That was a 2.4 percent decrease from the same time period in 2007. Port container volume peaked in 2006 and has been declining since.

In response, shipping lines have been finding ways to cut back such as anchoring extra ships, scrapping inefficient ones and consolidating routes.

The Tacoma port lost some business as one of its longtime customers, Maersk, did the latter. Maersk plans to call at the Port of Seattle starting in May as part of a vessel-sharing deal with the French shipping line CMA CGM. The two lines will share capacity on each other's ships on several routes, including one that serves the Pacific Northwest from Asia. CMA CGM now calls on Seattle's Terminal 18.

Port officials and NYK's Keller said long-term plans for building out the Blair Peninsula remain intact. And all are committed to opening some sort of new terminal for NYK by 2012.

Source: http://www.cargonewsasia.com