Ferrin touts port

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Rick Ferrin told members of the Propeller Club of the Uniterd States that traffic handled bythe authority’a tenants and customers has been increasing, unlike many other U.S. ports. “We are ideally situated to becom thefirst post-Panamax port of call on the East Coast,” said For this to happen, the port needs to deepen the rived so that when the Panama Canalp is expanded in 2014, larger shipw can call on the docks. Ferrin said the authorityg expectsthe deepening, improving the port’sd surrounding infrastructure and other projects to cost about $1.4 The Army Corps of Engineers accelerated study on the proposed dredgingy is expected within eight months.
Ferrin expectws the deepening to be approvedin 2010. “Thehn I’ll have the fight of my life inWashington D.C. to get the he said. The final phase of deepening is expectedc to begin in with completion as soonas 2014. He said fundintg could come from a variety of including bonds, federal funding and the proposedr stimulus package. Although Ltd’s planned $300 milliojn terminal isn’t shovel-ready, meaning ground could be broken withinm120 days, it may stil get funding through a second stimulus package, if ther is one. The 88-acre terminal is expecte to directly and indirectly createabout 5,70 jobs and have an annual $1 billion impactt on the area.
When the Mitsui and TraPa terminalsare completed, the port expectss about 1.6 million containers to pass throug Jacksonville. To prevent roads from becoming jammerd by theexpected 6,000 to 7,000 trucks coming to the terminalx daily, the surrounding roads and rail lines need to be said Ferrin. Short-term infrastructure projects to alleviate traffic arealreadgy underway, but more than $100 million in projects will be needed in the long-term, he Mayor John Peyton has alreadyt set aside $50 million toward port-related The maritime industry, which has gained prominence largely due to the globa economy, is facing one of the most challengingt times in its history, Ferrij said.
The space available for shipsw has increased by 13 percent but demand has only increaser by about5 percent. He said many orders for new ships have been postponed or Asian trade is down about10 percent, European tradwe is down 5 percent to 6 Latin America trade is down 3 to 4 percent and Africaj trade is flat, Ferrin said. The slump in Asian trade is being experienced at the newTraPad Terminal, which was expected to receive two to three shipds per week. Only one ship calls per week but Ferrinj hopes more ships will be addedwhen TraPac’s parent company, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines changes its shipping schedulesin July.
Tota l traffic handled by the authority’s customers is up about 9 Container traffic is up17 percent, auto trafficf and break bulk has increasede about 5 percent and bulk traffic is flat. Within the next decade, Ferrin foresees the port havingv three to four majotcargo terminals, making it the thirdx largest port on the East He sees the port affectinh directly and indirectly about 75,000 jobs.