(The following story by Jeff Berman appeared on the Logistics Management website on February 5.)
NORFOLK, Va. — Volumes at the Port of Virginia grew for the sixth straight year, the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) recently announced.
The VPA said that the port handled 2.128 million TEU (Twenty-foot equivalents) in 2007, which topped 2006’s output by 82,000 TEU. It added that the port handled 2,289 ship calls and 366,739 tons of breakbulk cargo.
A main driver for the port’s continued successes are the four new services adding the port to its rotations, according to Joe Harris, VPA media relations manager.
These new services—cited in a VPA statement—include: Virginia International Terminals inking five-year contracts with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and CSAV that could potentially exceed $20 million and $50 million, respectively; the VPA signed memorandums of understanding with the Suez Canal Authority and the Port of Xiamen to promote trade with Virginia; and PL Shipping was retained to represent the VPA in India (this deal was announced in January).
“[These] four new services…have helped drive growth in the import side,” Harris told LM. “[And] the weak dollar has helped to drive an increased amount of exports as well. Those are the two primary drivers.”
Another factor cited by the VPA for the port’s strong 2007 was that its rail volumes saw strong growth. The VPA said the amount of cargo moved by rail in 2007 from the port’s marine terminals to critical Midwest markets spiked by 83,990 TEU or 20.9 percent year over year. And it added that cargo moved between the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, Va. and marine terminals in Hampton Roads, Va. grew by more than 8,800 TEU or 14.4 percent annually.
The VPA’s Harris explained that the Port of Virginia has very good rail access to the Midwest, with Norfolk Southern and CSX serving as its railroad partners.
In terms of overall shipper benefits, Harris pointed out the Port of Virginia offers: modern terminals, the deepest harbor on the United States East Coast at 50 feet, no overhead obstructions, and it is 18 miles from the open ocean.
“We don’t have any congestion or labor problems, and we have plenty of room to expand,” said Harris. “That said, the feedback we are getting [from shippers] is positive and because of the aforementioned items, this month we are going to be seeing some bigger ships introduced into the rotations – from 2,800-TEU-capacity vessels to 4,000 TEU vessels. The ship lines would include Virginia in the rotation if we couldn’t accommodate their newer, bigger vessels.”