b'MARCH 22 - APRIL 4, 2021MARITIME Section 23NWSA volumes up 9%PhilaPort breaks ground on new in January near-dock warehousePennsylvaniaGovernorTomWolf,Phila- Port, said PhilaPort Executive Director and CEO By Stas Margonanis, AJOT delphiaMayorJimKenneyandseniorPhila- Jeff Theobald. Our proximity to the Lehigh Valley Portleadershipparticipated inagroundbreakingandothermajordistributioncenterhubscannot NorthwestSeaportAllianceceremonyforanewnear-dockwarehouse.Thebe overstated. But for some shippers, the need for (NWSA)CEOJohnWolfenewPhilaPortDistributionCenterwillfuelthenear-dock warehousing like the PhilaPort Distribu-reported in an online conferencenext phase of development for one of the fastesttion Center is critical.March 3rd that container freightgrowing ports in America. Holt Logistics Corp. will be the operator of volumes rose by 9% in JanuaryIn the plan to grow The Port of Philadel- thenewbuilding,whichwillserveasamajor 2021 compared to January 2020phia as rapidly as possible, this new warehouseadjuncttothecontaineroperationsatPacker totaling 288,289 TEUs. isacriticalcomponent,saidGovernorTomAvenueMarineTerminal.Thisnewwarehouse Wolfe said NWSA, a part- Wolf. As a result of our infrastructure improve- will allow the Holt organization to get containers nershipbetweentheportsofments, the same large ships that have been call- off the terminal and rapidly unloaded into a state-SeattleandTacoma,Januarying neighboring ports can now call The Port ofof-the-art facility. Containers can then be returned containernumbersshowedanPhiladelphia. As we continue to recover from thedirectlytothemarineterminalormovedtoa 11%increaseinimportsbutaCOVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to acceler- Pennsylvania factory to be loaded with exports, 13% decline in exports. ate our throughput and growth. furtherexpandingopportunitiesforlocaland He said he expects a strongPhilaPort is the fastest growing container portregional commerce.firsthalffor2021butwouldin the USA, and this facility is expected to con- We often use the phrase a rising tide lifts all not speculate for the second halftinue to propel growth. Last year, the Port movedboats, but in this case our rising land-based infra-of the year. a record 640,000 TEU and achieved 7% growthstructurewilllifttheentirePhiladelphiaregion Inanswertoaquestion,NWSA CEO John Wolfe duringadifficultglobaleconomicenvironment.to new heights, said Leo Holt, president of Holt Wolfe said NWSA is not as con- The exporters have a veryCompound annual growth over the past 10 yearsLogisticsCorp.Asamarineterminaloperator, gested as the Southern Californiadifficulttimeplanningtogethas been 10%. one of the main pillars of our service profile is ports of Los Angeles and LongtheirexportsintotheterminalThe $42 million, 201,621 square foot buildingvelocity. Todays shippers demand it. It is essen-Beach because the two ports col- in time to meet that vessel. Theis a critical step in the development of the Portstial to our aspirations to grow The Port of Philadel-lectivelyannuallyhandleoverwindows for delivery for thesePacker Avenue Marine Terminal, the regions mainphias throughput by 100%.17millionTEUscomparedtovesselsaresotightoftentimescontainer terminal. The new food-grade warehouseWe have spent the last few years building the NWSA which annually handlestheymissthatwindow,heis one mile from the marine terminal and will helpPorts ship-side infrastructureberths, cranes, ter-around 3.8 million TEUs. saidduringavideoconference.the Port attract new shippers and ocean lines. minal reconfigurationnow it is exciting to see Port of Seattle CommissionThatstheprimaryreasonforWe will leverage this building to bring newthe Ports newest phase commence, said PhilaPort PresidentFredFellemannotedthedrop,thevesselschedulesocean carrier services to Philadelphia, and to bringChairman Jerry Sweeney, who served as MC for theNWSAgatewayisadis- being so far off. major new beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) to ourtodays event.cretionaryport,andthatonly about 25% of the containers that areunloadedaredestinedforBREAKBULK AND PROJECT CARGO.local consumers. The remaining 75% is shipped by rail to easterly destinations such as Chicago. SAVANNAH AND BRUNSWICK.As a result, he said, NWSA needs to be scrappy and moreSMART MOVE.competitive and invest in our infrastructure.Felleman noted that the new Terminal 5 at the Port of SeattleEXPERIENCE, FLEXIBILITY AND RAPID MARKET ACCESS advances that goal by creating a newmodernterminalhandlingMAKE THE GEORGIA PORTS THE PERFECT HUBfacility with on-dock rail that will speed rail shipments without theFOR BREAKBULK AND PROJECT CARGO.need for trucking. The 200 acre facility will soon be welcoming newcontainercranesandwill supportelectricshorepower equipmentsothatshipscan turn off their diesel engines and switchenvironmentallyfriendly shore power operations.It also means that we have a much more competitive situ-ation because if your goal is to just get to Chicago, you can do that from any number of ports, andthereforewehavetobe scrappy and continue to invest in our infrastructure to be able to provide the quality of service that would make us a priority, Felleman said.Thewaterfalleffectfrom SouthernCaliforniaportcon-gestion and equipment shortages hascausedanebbofexports from the Pacific Northwest.NWSACEOJohnWolfe said full exports in January were down13.4%year-over-year, from 66,410 twenty-foot equiv-alentunits(TEUs)in2020to 57,517 TEUs this year.Whenthere is conges-Dedicated teams well-versed in the special355,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space at Port of tion at those other gateways, thehandling requirements for each type of cargo Brunswicks Mayors Point Terminalvesselschedulesaresofaroff thatwhentheygettoSeattle-Direct interstate access to manufacturing points1.3 million sq. ft. of warehouse space at Port of Tacoma,thewindowoftimethroughout the U.S. Savannahs Ocean Terminalfor them to work the vessel and get back to Asia has been [sig-Established relationship with the GeorgiaRail: Brunswick - Direct CSX and Norfolk Southernnificantly reduced]. Theyre in aDepartment of Transportation for overweight Savannah - Direct Norfolk Southern and rush to turn that vessel around toand dimensional cargo permitting assistance CSX via Switchtry and get that vessel back on schedule. It has created problemsFor additional information, contactfor us, Wolfe said in responseBobby Keel, Regional Sales Manager, Trade Development at toaquestionfromAmerican(912) 965-6369, [email protected] regarding the reason for the export drop. gaports.com/cargo/breakbulk'