The South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) Board today approved the $42.7-million contract, which includes the placement of fill material on portions of the landside of the terminal and along the already completed 5,000-foot-long containment wall structure, which was constructed toward the shipping channel. The facility represents the only permitted new container terminal currently under construction on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts.

“The completion of the Navy Base Terminal, along with the Charleston Harbor Deepening Project, demonstrates that South Carolina understands what the industry’s future demands are, and we will be ready to meet them,” said Bill Stern, chairman of the SCPA Board. “The new terminal and a deepened harbor are both essential to fulfill our mission of economic development and serve our customers’ needs for the foreseeable future.”

The Board selected for the project Massachusetts-based Jay Cashman, which was the lead contractor on the demolition of the former Cooper River bridges, as well as one of the partners on the $44-million containment wall project for the Navy Base Terminal.

Starting next month, crews will relocate approximately 1.75 million cubic yards of dredged material from Daniel Island to the terminal site by water, placing the fill behind the containment structure and on portions of the upland area. The crews also will consolidate the upland area of the site by installing approximately 5.7 million linear feet of vertical wick drains and surcharging the area to stabilize the site and prepare it for construction.

The project is expected to run through January 2014, overlapping with the next major fill contract, which is slated to begin late next year. At build out, the new, 280-acre container terminal will increase the Port of Charleston’s container capacity by 50 percent.

BCT was granted the subsidy as part of the Infrastructure & Environment Operational Program Measure 7.4. “Development of Intermodal Transport.” Within the investment program, BCTl shall invest in new equipment, yard area improvements and IT systems.  The equipment to be purchased includes, among others, new quay cranes, rubber tired gantries and rail mounted gantries.  Terminal yards and roads shall be modernized, and the number of reefer container racks will also be added.  A DGPS system will be deployed to positioning of the equipment, and automated gates will be installed.  The investment will increase BCT’s annual capacity by 60 percent, from 750,000 TEU to 1.2 million TEU.

Established in 1979, the Baltic Container Terminal in the Gdynia Port is one of the biggest terminals in the Baltic region and is the leading container terminal in Poland.

Ongoing work to achieve the highest possible safety standards, reduction of the environmental impact of expanding global operations and positive contributions to the communities in which APM Terminals operate are major highlights of the Sustainability Report – the second of its kind.

APM Terminals continued to be an industry leader in safety performance in 2011 in terms of reducing injuries, as the LTIF rate decreased by 21% compared to the 2010 figure and is at its lowest level ever.  LTIF – Lost Time Injury Frequency – is recognized globally as a key indicator for a company’s safety performance. The APM Terminals goal for 2012 is a further 15% reduction in the LTIF rate.

In the report, APM Terminals outlines a detailed plan to manage risks better in four key areas of the complex port operations: Internal traffic, working at heights, falling objects and lashing. The reason behind the plan: Despite progress in the overall safety performance, APM Terminals has yet to achieve a significant reduction in fatal accidents.

“There is still much to improve. I am fully committed to the APM Terminals’ goal of zero fatalities and zero incidents,” writes APM Terminals’ CEO Kim Fejfer in his introduction to the report.

In terms of environmental performance, APM Terminals exceeded the target of a 15% decrease in CO2 emissions by 2011 against a 2009 baseline for port facilities by achieving a reduction of 16.5% per Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU). Due to the continued expansion of APM Terminals’ operations and the associated need for new cargo handling equipment, there was an overall increase of 2.1% in the combined absolute CO2 emissions for the company between 2009 and 2011.

In support of the parent A.P. Moller-Maersk Group target of a 10% reduction in relative CO2 emissions, APM Terminals has established a target of a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions per TEU by 2020 for all terminal operations, as measured against a 2010 baseline.

In addition to safety and environmental performance, the report also gives details about the following elements of APM Terminals’ sustainability performance:

·         Community engagement and contribution

·         Employee engagement, talent development and diversity

·         Socio-economic development and effect of port and inland investments

·         Anti-corruption and compliance with United Nations Global Compact.

In August 2011, APM Terminals named Johan Breukelaar Head of Health, Safety, Security, Environment and Corporate Responsibility based in The Hague, Netherlands and reporting to the CEO.

 The Port Authority believes its request to the U.S. Department of Transportation and to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Coast Guard is the first to be submitted in the country in response to the President’s newly issued EO.

“For too long, the Port Authority and other public agencies in the region and across the country have been caught in a web of too much process and bureaucracy,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye. “I applaud President Obama’s decision to let common sense rule and to encourage coordination, urgency, and accountability for federal permitting processes at a time when critical infrastructure projects are vital to job creation and economic activity.  The Port Authority immediately submitted its request given the $1 billion Bayonne Bridge Raise the Roadway project is an ideal contender for this initiative. We are not building a new bridge but simply raising the roadway and rehabilitating an existing structure. As the Panama Canal widening effort nears completion, every day becomes critically important to our goal of making sure larger cargo ships can access the Port of New York and New Jersey through the Bayonne Bridge. Speed is essential, and I am committed to making the Port Authority faster and more competitive.”

The Port Authority has committed $1 billion to this project to increase the navigational clearance of the Bayonne Bridge from 151 feet to 215 feet, in anticipation of the Panama Canal widening completion in 2014.  This expansion will allow for larger post-Panamax ships to access the region through the Kill Van Kull Channel. 

The project is currently undergoing the required Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review with the U.S. Coast Guard, the designated lead federal agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Construction on this project is anticipated to begin in early 2013, pending federal and local environmental reviews.