International Maritime

SC Ports CEO outlines plans for Charleston to hit 10 million TEUs

By Michael Angell

Expansion plans would more than triple capacity in Charleston ( pictured ) by 2040 . Mariusz Bugno / Shutterstock . com

Three years after it was effectively shuttered upon launch , the now-reopened Hugh K . Leatherman marine terminal is set to kick off a wave of future capacity expansion at the Port of Charleston , with plans for a second berth and further bolstering of Charleston ’ s strong franchise in shorthaul intermodal , according to the port ’ s chief .

South Carolina Ports Authority ( SC Ports ) Chief Executive Barbara Melvin unveiled the Leatherman berth addition during an Oct . 16 “ State of the Port ” address at Charleston ’ s Columbus Street multi-purpose terminal . She outlined how Charleston , which can handle just over 3 million TEUs of containerized cargo per year currently , plans to more than triple that annual capacity by 2040 .

“ With expansions and modernization set for our three container terminals , we are on the cusp of having 10 million TEUs in Charleston harbor ,” Melvin said in prepared remarks . “ Companies can be confident that if they put capital in the ground and commit to this region , we have the infrastructure and capacity to grow along with them .”

Charleston faced its fair share of challenges in 2024 . The renovation of a toe wall at its Wando Welch terminal that began in May closed one of its three berths , resulting in a mid-summer backlog of up to 20 container ships outside of the port and knocking out about one-third of Wando ’ s 2.4 million TEUs in annual capacity . The toe wall construction is scheduled to be completed in November .

The planned closure of the Wando berth followed an unplanned outage at its terminal gates that closed both Charleston and the authority ’ s inland ports to truck traffic , resulting in another two-day backlog of containers .

Different workers , same product

In addition , SC Ports overcame a longer-term challenge around the reopening of the Leatherman terminal to container service following a long-running dispute with the International Longshoremen ’ s Association ( ILA ) over work jurisdiction for lift equipment jobs at Leatherman , which originally went to non-union , state workers . ILA members , meanwhile , handled horizontal yard moves , along with clerical , gate and maintenance jobs .

Following the US Supreme Court ’ s decision not to hear Charleston ’ s appeal of lower court rulings that supported the ILA ’ s right to sue ocean carriers that call Leatherman , the port announced that it would hire ILA members to operate cranes and other lift equipment at the terminal .

Leatherman ’ s 22 crane operators , some of whom are former state employees , are all ILA members now , while at the Wando terminal , state workers still handle the crane and other lift jobs .

The switchover to hiring ILA members has meant slightly higher administrative costs for SC Ports , which just implemented a $ 13.39 per container fee across all its terminals to “ offset the change in the labor cost model structure ,” per the new tariff .

In an interview prior to her keynote , Melvin told the Journal of Commerce SC Ports will continue to bill ocean carriers directly for vertical container moves , while Charleston Stevedoring , the third-party container handler at the port , will charge for all other terminal services .

Melvin said the ILA crane operators , which were trained by SC Ports , will follow similar work rules and processes as the Wando terminal , meaning that ocean carriers and shippers should see similar performance .

Hiring ILA crane operators “ was a solution dictated by the courts , but we wanted to offer the same product at Leatherman as we do at Wando ,” she said , adding that future crane jobs at Wando and other facilities will be open to ILA members .

“ The Leatherman terminal solution was one of the biggest challenges as a port director , but the most rewarding as I watched those ships go into the facility ,” Melvin said .

Despite the long-running antipathy over control of the crane jobs , Melvin said the local ILA is just as invested in seeing Leatherman succeed as the port is .

“ We have a different workforce there at Leatherman , but we are not providing a different product ,” she said . “ You don ’ t hear people talking about [ whether ] they ’ re a member of the ILA or a state employee . They say they work at the Port of Charleston .”

Leatherman , which reopened shortly before the

18 Journal of Commerce | November 4 , 2024 www . joc . com