Posted on October 21, 2024
Just weeks after reopening the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal at the Port of Charleston, the South Carolina Ports Authority laid out its long-term plans to expand its container capacity to 10 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The authority, which oversees the Port of Charleston and two inland hubs, Port Greer and Port Dillon, expects to reach that goal by 2050.
At her third “State of the Port” address, South Carolina Ports president and CEO Barbara Melvin boasted about the port complex’s resilience in the wake of the East and Gulf Coast port strike, when union dockworkers of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) walked off the job for three days.
“We cleared up our vessel queue by Oct. 9, as other ports are still challenged today,” said Melvin, who delivered the address to more than 1,200 attendees Wednesday at a warehouse inside Columbus Street Terminal.
On-port expansions are expected to take place at Leatherman Terminal, which officially reopened to receive containers on Sept. 26. As the first new container terminal built in the U.S. since 2009, the hub had essentially been on ice shortly after it opened its doors in March 2021 due to a labor dispute between the ILA and its maritime employers over who had the right to work there.
In line with that dispute, the ILA sued the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) and member carriers Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL for $300 million one month after Leatherman opened, effectively scaring off liners from stopping at the port. That court case was terminated in April before being sent to third-party arbitration.
The ILA won the wider labor dispute in February when the Supreme Court denied a request from the SC Ports to hear an argument over who gets to operate cranes at the terminal.
With the labor drama now out of the way, the ports can now focus their energy on expanding the terminal, which already has capacity for 700,000 TEUs in Charleston Harbor and a 1,400-foot berth.
The expansion plans also include a second, 1,600-foot berth for the terminal’s wharf, providing 3,000 feet of berth space for mega container ships. The SC Port is currently collecting bids to construct that berth, with the formal bid opening process scheduled for Nov. 12.
When fully built, the 286-acre terminal will have three berths and will add 2.4 million TEUs of throughput capacity to the Port of Charleston.
“In partnership with the ILA, employers and greater maritime community, we are once again providing excellent port service at Leatherman Terminal for the benefit of our ocean carrier and cargo owner customers, adding critical capacity to the U.S. East Coast,” Melvin said. “We have welcomed our first weekly, first-in-Asia service with Zim, with many more to come. We now have a stronger partnership with the ILA, and we are all growing together.”
Expansions are occurring throughout the Charleston port, with more buildouts expected at North Charleston Terminal. SC Ports purchased a 280-acre former paper mill site in North Charleston adjacent to the terminal, which will expand the terminal to handle 5 million TEUs in the future. It will offer 5,000 feet of linear berth space for container ships and 400 acres of terminal space for cargo.
“A modernized terminal with significant new container capacity will yield even more reliable, productive port service,” Melvin said in a statement. “This expansion, combined with efforts to raise the Don Holt Bridge and deepen the river to 52 feet, will enable North Charleston Terminal to handle the biggest ships calling the port today.”
Heavy investments will also be poured into rail capabilities, with the authority building out its 118-acre Navy Base Intermodal Facility in North Charleston with $400 million in state funding. The site will provide direct rail connection into the Port of Charleston, serving as a hub for the transfer and shipment of goods within the state and throughout the southeast U.S.
The facility will provide 35,000-feet of processing tracks and use six electric rail-mounted gantry cranes to transfer containers between railcars and trucks.
SC Ports will also aims to beef up inland Port Greer with 9,000 feet of new rail and an expanded container yard.
The port system continues to be a boon on the state’s economy. According to SC Ports’ 2024 annual report, which was first unveiled at the event, the economic impact of the ports rose 37 percent since June 2023, contributing $87 billion.
From June 2023 to June 2024, SC Ports invested $296 million into port-related expansion in North Charleston and Port Greer, according to the report.
