Posted on November 26, 2018
The Army Corps of Engineers has approved a $5.4 million dredging project that will make the paper mill and Panama City’s new port more accessible to bigger ships than ever before.
U.S. Rep. Neal Dunn said the Corps approved the project as part of its 2019 fiscal year spending on Tuesday. Making port access easier for larger ships could help spur economic development and job growth in the area, he said.
Specifically, the plan is to dredge the channel between Port Panama City and the paper mill to 36 feet deep from its current 32 feet. The distance between the port and the paper mill is less than a mile long.
The project is expected to take 11 months to finish.
“It’s not a large dredging project, but it’s a big deal for Panama City,” Dunn said. “It means jobs and prosperity for the region … suddenly they have a port that’s convenient and sufficient to ship things in and out.”
Dunn said that with more depth, larger ships can access the paper mill than could previously.
“Ships that serve the paper mill have become larger and larger over the years, to the point that they literally can’t get in except at high tide or when they are half-full,” Dunn said.
Dunn added that the area has started manufacturing more because of recent changes to the tax code. Manufacturers can only benefit from having access to bigger ships, he said.
“We want to export and ship things to and from our port,” Dunn said.
Dunn noted that beside the mill, work is underway on a second port being built by the Panama City Port Authority — a project set to benefit from the dredging. He added that when the new port opens, loads from Port Panama City can relocate there thanks to the dredging. That in turn will free up more space and Port Panama City for use, he said.
Becca Hardin, president of the Bay Economic Development Alliance, said the dredging was good for the county and the new port under development.
“They’re building a 250,000-square-foot warehouse … it’s property we can market for industrial use,” Hardin said of the new port. “So the dredging is critical, absolutely critical for the long-term success and growth of the port.”
Source: News Herald
