Port of Wilmington to Get $21.6 Million for Dredging Project
The N.C. State Ports Authority board agreed to spend up to $21.6 million on a project to widen the Port of Wilmington's turning basin to accommodate larger ships.
"This is a good project," authority CEO Paul Cozza said. "It makes sense."
The project, scheduled to be completed by June 30, includes removing an existing bulk pier and dredging along the port's side of the river to expand the turning basin from 1,200 feet to 1,400 feet.
Cozza said the resolution does not give him free rein over the funds — it only sets a maximum amount the authority's staff can spend on the project. A public bid opening for a contract for the work is scheduled for Feb. 3.
"There are no blank checks from our board," Cozza said.
The port is looking to accommodate larger ships that can handle more containers — measured in the shipping industry as 20-foot equivalents, or TEUs — that will be able to pass through an expanded Panama Canal when it opens this year.
The largest ships calling at the port carry about 4,500 TEUs, though the port can handle as much as 7,000. But the larger ships that soon will be able to pass through the Panama Canal are larger than 7,000 TEUs. With the expanded turning point, the Port of Wilmington's largest capacity will increase to 8,600 TEUs, port officials have said.
They also have said their customers have indicated they intend to use larger ships in the future, meaning that the port could lose business to competing ports on the East Coast without the expansion.
In other business at the board's meeting Jan. 27, the board passed a resolution of support for the proposed CSX intermodal terminal hub in Johnston County.
CSX has proposed investing $150 million in the project, which it has said will serve as a connection hub for rail terminals throughout the country and bring more than 1,000 jobs to North Carolina. The project is contingent on $100 million of state funding.
Its proponents, including Cozza, say the project will bring numerous economic benefits to the state. The hub would be only the second of its kind in the Eastern half of the country — the other is in Ohio. CSX officials said the hub, scheduled to be completed in 2019, will serve as a central collection and distribution point for rail traffic — similar to an airport that serves as a hub for air travel.
"This is really a game changer," Cozza said. "This is really a statewide deal that doesn't exist anywhere else in the Southeast [United States].
The project, however, has run into resistance from Johnston County residents and the county board of commissioners over concerns of property being taken through eminent domain proceedings.
