JACKSONVILLE — Becoming the premier U.S. East coast port-of-call in the East-West trade route doesn’t come without effort (and dredging). With the completion of a Jacksonville Harbor-deepening project two months ahead of schedule, the Army Corps of Engineers (A.C.E.)  now moves toward the St. Johns River’s hazardous Mile Point shoreline.

Dredging the St. Johns to a uniform depth of 40 feet was completed on July 3rd. It included the five-mile strip of the river shipping channel from Blount Island (TraPac and planned HanJin terminals sites) to JAXPORT’s  downtown Talleyrand terminal.  An area of the river called Chaseville Widener was expanded from 100 feet to 200 feet.

Dredging Today – The industry’s groundbreaking news provider ran an overview of the project in an article by Nancy Sticht of A.C.E. – Jacksonville District.

An A.C.E. engineering and cost-benefit analysis on dredging the St. Johns River up to 50 feet (from the Atlantic Ocean to the Talleyrand terminal) to accommodate trending industry super-sized Post-Panamax cargo vessels is in progress. Before the dredge can begin, however, the port must address the navigational hazard of the Mile Point.

Blount Island marine terminal, courtesy JAXPORT

The hazards of Mile Point:

Simply put, a river construction project  many years ago is now causing economic hardship for JAXPORT and the ships that call on it.  An ensuing tidal hazard at the convergence of the Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean is such that the harbor pilots can only allow safe passage at optimum high ebb-tide. If a cargo ship has missed this optimum, it must anchor off shore. Roughly two-thirds of the day is completely unproductive time.

UPDATE — More on the Mile Point (via Journal of Commerce):  ”Jaxport is working with the Jacksonville District to design and build a $60 million jetty on the south bank of the river by 2013 to “train” the outgoing tide coming up from the south so it intersects and neutralizes the tide coming down from the north in the middle of the river channel.”

A.C.E. Col. (Ret) district engineer Joe Miller is now Senior Director for Facilities Development at JAXPORT. Along with describing the port’s maritime predicament came the larger issue of alleviating the problem – as a federal waterway, the port must await an Appropriations Bill along with an Act of Congress. Miller even has a labyrinthine timeline with projected dates in the approval process – from A.C.E. economics, design and engineering reports through to the Asst. Sec. of the Army for Civil Works and back again to A.C.E. Chief of Engineers, who presents a final report to a Congressional waterways sub-committee in 2014.

Miller said JAXPORT and A.C.E. – Jacksonville District “are working diligently to accelerate this (unreasonably time-consuming) schedule.”

If the stars align for JAXPORT, officials say harbor improvements would coincide with the 2014 completed expansion of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal Authority and JAXPORT have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) strategic partnership on April 20th in Panama City. This MOU agreement, as well as a Panama Business Forum hosted by The Economist magazine two weeks later, was featured on this website in a May 5th article – Canal Panamania [the Port of Savannah, a JAXPORT competitor, also received a brief mention from Dredging Today - the industry's groundbreaking news provider].

Hanjin-Miami-(8000-TEU-Class), courtesy Hanjin Shipping

Meanwhile, Hanjin Shipping awaits:

Seoul-based Hanjin Shipping, Korea’s largest container carrier, signed a 30-year lease agreement including a new 90-acre container facility at JAXPORT’s Dames Point marine terminal (near Blount Island) in 2008.  The original 2011 projected completion date has been pushed out to 2014 because of a facility site switch and stalled labor negotiations .

Hanjin  and the International Longshoremen Association (ILA) are set to resume labor negotiations in early Fall. (Apparently, 21st-century advanced automation-technology is a contentious issue). Terminal construction is dependent on a finalized labor agreement. Hanjin is not considering another port-of-call location and is anxious to make JAXPORT a key hub for its East coast shipping activity.

UPDATE: From Jacksonville Business Journal — “The Longshoreman’s union approved a labor agreement with Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. Monday night (Sept. 13), clearing the way for progress on the Korean shipping company’s $200 million Jacksonville shipping terminal, scheduled to open in 2014.

And don’t forget about Carnival Cruise Lines:

The Hanjin terminal site-switch is a long story, but currently Carnival Cruise Line’s 2052-passenger ship, the Carnival Fascination, embarks from Hanjin’s future home. Nancy Rubin, JAXPORT’s Director of Communications said staff is now “putting numbers to paper” on potential cruise terminal sites  to present to the Board of Directors.  One of these sites is JAXPORT-owned property in Mayport, which has been a source of contraversy for the small fishing village community.

Mayport remains a potential site but the price tag last time we looked was in the $60 million range and that was pre-recession — Rubin

Aug. 26  UPDATE (via Florida Times-Union):  JAXPORT C.E.O. Rick Ferrin submits resignation to Board of Directors at afternoon management meeting.

(via Journal of Commerce): The port authority said Ferrin agreed to stay at the port “in a new position where he will exercise his proven communications and analytical skills to provide the board and senior management with insight and analysis on strategic issues critical to the continued growth of Jacksonville and the port.”

Homepage feature photo

Containers by watercolorist Fred Schloth, courtesy JAXPORT Gallery

August. 31 Update (via JAXPORT): JAXPORT’s Board of Directors has appointed Chief Operating Officer Chris Kauffmann interim Executive Director following the decision by Rick Ferrin to step down from this role. The board has also asked port management to initiate the search process to identify a new, permanent Executive Director. The next scheduled board meeting is set for September 27, 2010.

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Tags | Hanjin Shipping Co., Jacksonville Port Authority, Trapac Container Terminal