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stacks , removing a former bridge pier and for preliminary utility installation .

“ We ’ re very pleased with the progress on improving Ocean Terminal ’ s container handling capability ,” GPA CEO Griff Lynch said in a statement March 26 . “ We ’ re on track to see greater container capacity by late 2027 .”

Ocean Terminal has handled containers for decades , but it was a minor portion of its overall cargo compared with project cargo and breakbulk .

With that cargo now being shifted to Colonel ’ s Island and the Port of Brunswick , the GPA is expanding Ocean

Terminal to grow its annual container capacity from 300,000 TEUs to 1.5 million TEUs . It can currently only handle vessels of up to 4,000 TEUs , but the project will allow the facility to process larger post-Panamax ships .

Previous funds for the project were allocated by GPA to purchase eight ship-to-shore cranes , refurbish the wharf to handle post-Panamax container ships and build an overpass to directly connect truckers to US-17 , a roadway that feeds into Interstate 95 .

email : ari . ashe @ spglobal . com

Once the new site is developed , North Charleston terminal will have 400 acres of container yard space . English Purcell / SC Ports

SC Ports lands deal to make North Charleston ready for bigger ships

By Michael Angell

The Port of Charleston aims to make the North Charleston container terminal ready to handle larger neo-Panamax ships with the purchase of an adjacent industrial site that will allow the port to triple the size of the terminal ’ s container yard and double the length of its berth .

The South Carolina State Ports Authority ( SC Ports ) board of directors on March 19 approved the purchase of a 280-acre property formerly occupied by a WestRock paper mill . The purchase price was not disclosed .

The North Charleston Terminal currently encompasses 201 acres , with 132 acres of that devoted to its container yard . SC Ports said once the new site is developed , North Charleston will have 400 acres of container yard space .

In addition , the WestRock site will double the terminal ’ s berth space from 2,460 linear feet to 5,000 feet .

SC Ports did not disclose how many more ship-to-shore cranes it will add to North Charleston , which currently has five . However , SC Ports said that it plans to modernize the North Charleston terminal “ with an optimized layout , upgraded cargo-handling equipment and significant new container capacity .”

North Charleston , the smallest of the port ’ s three container terminals by acreage and capacity , primarily serves trans-Atlantic and north – south services , with ship sizes limited to 8,000 TEUs .

But SC Ports is hoping to eventually bring ships of 15,000 TEUs and larger to North Charleston . It said it is working with the South Carolina Department of Transportation to raise the Don Holt Bridge that spans Cooper River , which now forces the port to impose air draft restrictions on ships calling North Charleston .

“ Modernizing the terminal , raising the Don Holt Bridge , deepening the Cooper River and purchasing the former WestRock property are all critical components that will yield a state-of-the-art North Charleston Terminal ,” SC Ports CEO Barbara Melvin said in a statement .

email : michael . angell @ spglobal . com

26 Journal of Commerce | May 6 , 2024 www . joc . com