Southport terminal gains fans, skeptics

Three companies are talking to the state about teaming to build a billion-dollar international port near Southport -- a partnership crucial to the project's success.

But critics of the N.C. Ports Authority's plans to build the N.C. International Port in Brunswick County still question whether a third major port in roughly 300 miles of coastline can compete. Ports Authority officials contend that the facility is needed to handle surging demand for the imported goods that fill shelves in Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Target.

With deeper water, close ocean access and hundreds of acres of vacant land -- a combination not available at ports in Wilmington and Morehead City -- the new port also would help the state compete for the distribution centers that such retailers build near ports.

"This idea is good, forward thinking," said Jake Coakley, regional vice president for Seattle-based SSA, which owns and operates 105 terminals around the world. "Had we known [the property] was available, maybe we would have gone out to buy it."

SSA contacted state port officials about a partnership when they learned of the proposed port in December, Coakley said. SSA has been trying for six years to build a $500 million container terminal on 600 acres in Jasper County, S.C. The South Carolina ports authority opposes the project, which has been held up in court.

Also interested is South Korea's Hanjin Shipping, which has $6 billion in annual revenue and 140 ships and operates nine port terminals worldwide.

"It's expensive, but we're always interested in alternatives like that," Bill Rooney, Hanjin's managing director, said from his office in Paramus, N.J. A private partner is expected to cover about $600 million of the estimated cost.

Ports officials said they've also been contacted by Denmark's A.P. Moeller-Maersk, the largest terminal operator in the United States and owner of the world's largest shipping fleet. APM is building a $500 million container terminal in Portsmouth, Va., scheduled to open next year.

On Feb. 7, the Council of State is expected to approve spending $30 million for the 620-acre site sandwiched between the Cape Fear River and Progress Energy's Brunswick nuclear power plant. The property, recently put up for sale by drug company Pfizer, has 4,000 feet of riverfront access.

The state also could be on the hook for another $200 million. That would pay about half of the estimated cost of dredging to a 52-foot depth. Bonds funded by ports revenue would pay most of the state's share, but federal funds would have to be secured for the balance.

Critics say the state hasn't justified such an expensive project.

"Wilmington and Morehead [ports] are too remote from the population base, and this would be even more remote," said David Bosley, former Grifton mayor who served on a state land use policy board in the 1970s.

Bald Head Island's Town Manager Jon Middleton has a different concern -- losing part of his turf. Four years ago, dredging that deepened the Cape Fear to 42 feet caused 300 feet of the island next to the channel to disappear. More island could be lost if the channel is deepened 10 more feet, he said.

Many years away

Tom Eagar, CEO of the Ports Authority, estimates the new port wouldn't open for 10 to 12 years. By that time, the Wilmington port will be at maximum capacity of 560,000 20-foot cargo containers a year, he said.

Port officials want the new port to be able to handle 2 million containers a year, a volume that would equal port capacities in Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; and Norfolk, Va.