Port of Charleston

[Spartan]

The Port of Charleston is now the fourth busiest port on the East coast behing New York, Savannah, and Norfolk. The port's volume decreased slightly while Savannah's jumped 14%, and the others grew as well. Basicly what it comes down to is that Savannah has been expanding and Charleston hasn't. The SCPA can't get the approval to expand in Charleston, they can't get approval in Jasper County, and they closed Port Royal. All of these things are working against our port. What do you think this means for out state?

Post & Courier Article

[SimCity]

The Port of Charleston is now the fourth busiest port on the East coast behing New York, Savannah, and Norfolk. The port's volume decreased slightly while Savannah's jumped 14%, and the others grew as well. Basicly what it comes down to is that Savannah has been expanding and Charleston hasn't. The SCPA can't get the approval to expand in Charleston, they can't get approval in Jasper County, and they closed Port Royal. All of these things are working against our port. What do you think this means for out state?

Post & Courier Article

The SC Port Authority really has a lot going against it right now. Nimbys ruined the chance for a superior port at Daniel Island some years ago and while the old Navy Base is a ready made facility and natural selection for such a project not one shovelful of dirt has been turned over because of beaucratic red tape. There's been concerns over whales, harbor traffic, homeland security, local road traffic, the proposed port at Jasper, environmental pollution, funding sources, etc, etc, etc. All the while Charleston is being left further and further behind just as this and the past port CEO predicted. Work needs to start on the new terminal with no more excuses and delays. The new terminal will probably have about the same effects upon the environment, traffic, etc as the Navy Base did when operating and I don't remember anyone dancing for joy when it was announced that the Navy Base was being shutdown.

With the Port of Georgetown serving a niche market, and Port Royal being closed, SC relies upon the Port of Charleston as an economic lifeline in attracting and retaining industry. Eventually the new terminal will be built thus allowing the port of Charleston to regain its prominence and to continue benefitting both the city and state.

[krazeeboi]

This is certainly disheartening, and even though it will take a bit of time to get everything sorted out, I think we'll eventually reclaim our #2 spot.

Concerning the Jasper County land in dispute, how did the state of Georgia come to own that land anyway? It has been suggested that the two states jointly develop the proposed site for a port facility along the Savannah River, although I don't know how feasible that would be.

The latest news I heard about the port is that the proposed access road for a port expansion in North Charleston needs to be funded, and soon.

Too bad the Daniel Island idea got thrown out. But I'm not surprised why, given the primary reason.

[digital_sandlapper]

I've lived in both port cities, Savannah and Charleston. It has always amazed me that Savannah could possibly be a busier port. Think about it: the ships have to go single file up the narrow river in Savannah, as opposed to a wide harbor in Charleston. Seems to me this would seriously impair ship traffic. Savannah has the one shipping channel, does Charleston only have one the same width? Can anyone shed light on this?

The new bridge was built higher and especially wider to accommodate taller and wider mega-ships. Isn't Charleston's shipping channel wide enough for two vessels to pass? Seems this would give us a clear advantage, so I'm mystified how Savannah could ever surpass us due to their geographical limitations.

[Spartan]

Ships are so large now that all shipping channels have to be dredged. So, Charleston Harbor has a shipping channel too. Charleston's may be wider... but look at Savannah on Google Earth... their port area goes pretty far inland. Its about docking capacity and how many ships you can load/unload and how fast. Charleston has both sides of the river to work with, so there is no excuse for their lack of progression.

[Charleston native]

This news is very sad, indeed, but we all must give thanks to those wonderful NIMBYs on Daniel Island who opposed the International Gateway terminal. Sorry vic, this is one big issue where preservation and NIMBYism actually can hurt an area's economy. The terminal would've probably even boosted Chas to start nipping the heels of the longest frontrunner port of NY/NJ.

Despite Savannah's geographical flaws, the port sustained and increased port traffic with a large array of development from private industries. Many major retailers such as Home Depot and WalMart built huge distribution warehouses, which help attract port carriers since the cargo would not have to be stored at a pier, but inside the respective shipment's warehouse. Dredging is done both in Sav's and Chas' port, so that is not the main concern. Also, Sav has close proximity to I-95 while at the same time, we can't even get our state to start constructing an additional access road onto I-26, let alone widen I-26 at that particular area!

Like I've said before, SC's incompetance in grabbing opportunities as soon as they become available will continue to hinder its progress.

[SimCity]

Concerning shipping channels and the like, Charleston actually has an advantage in that the port terminals are much closer to the open ocean (4-8 miles)than Savannah's where ships must traverse around 17 miles up the Savannah River to their terminals if memory serves me correctly. This may seem unimportant but it is a major factor when you are running a ship who's hourly operational costs can be in the tens of thousands of dollars. This is why it was essential for the new Cooper River Bridge to be built. The newest ships are so large and have drafts that are so deep that they had to wait for just the right window to be able to pass under the old bridges, they sometimes lost hundreds of thousands of dollars while waiting for the tide to change. Now concerning channel depth, Savannah has the advantage there of having much less silt being dumped onto their riverbed and they also have the advantage of owning dredge disposal land in SC where they can conveniently and easily dispose of their dredge material which can be a time consuming and costly process. Charleston of course has a harbor rather than a river and harbors are naturally shallower, especially when they have three rivers dumping silt into it like Charleston's.

[krazeeboi]

This editorial appeared in Savannah's daily; it advocates a regional (bi-state) approach towards developing a port facility in Jasper County. This is nothing new; the East Coast's largest port facility is operated by two states, New York and New Jersey.

[Spartan]

Thats an interesting idea. I'm not so sure that the SC politicians would want to comine resources in Savannah, at the expense of Charleston.

[krazeeboi]

Us getting some of the proceeds is better than us getting nothing at all.

[SimCity]

There was, of course, a similar article in todays P&C concerning statements made by Sean T. Connaughton, administrator of the U.S. Maritime Administration who was in town visting the Charleston port terminals. Even at the possible expense to Charleston and Savannah it looks like combining resources with Georgia may be the best route to take.

[Spartan]

Well I agree to a point. There is no reason that SC shouldn't capitalize on the Atlanta shipping market. However, I don't want to see Georgia gain from our investment more than South Carolina. Jasper County would benefit to a certain degree. If it is set up right (perhaps with the formation of a new city on the north side of the Savannah River to support a new port) then I would be all for it. Like I said, I just want to make sure that we aren't loosing out of anything.

[Spartan]

A major hurdle has been cleared towards the proposed port expansions.... the State House has approved a resolution that provides $138 million for a new road to serve the expanded port area in North Charleston.

Article

Its about time. I guess that news that Charleston has slipped to #4 has reall caught some people off guard. Its time to do whats right to restore Charleston to #2- second only to New York/New Jersey.

[krazeeboi]

About time funds were allocated toward that project.

[Charleston native]

You're right, the news of Chas slipping in the rankings probably spurred the agencies to get their heads out of their ass and get this project rolling. It's just pathetic that it takes something like that for the government to get to work.

What has been disappointing as well is Clement's opposition to the access road, saying that it would interfere with the Magnolia project and the possibility of lowering and realigning I-26. He should know that it takes more than just pretty homes and new urbanist development to attract and provide for new, well-paying jobs in a community. I hope we don't have a similar incident to the people on Daniel Island who opposed the Int'l Gateway terminal.

I never really liked the idea of changing I-26 that drastically, anyway. Widening I-26 and accomodating the port access road is going to be far more feasible if the interstate is left like it is. And, maybe since the highway can't be lowered, the necessity for a taller height limit in Magnolia will be realized.

[Spartan]

Looks like Savannah and Norfolk overtaking Charleston has really lit a fire under some asses. Or maybe its just the media takign advantage of the change in status. Either way, there are some significant advances in the the approval process of the expansion of the port in North Charleston. The wheels seem to be rolling now...

Article

[krazeeboi]

Once again, we'd rather do damage control than to be proactive and progressive from the jump.

[Spartan]

Well why do something good now when you can suck for a while then be back to the same level later?

[krazeeboi]

Unfortunately, our Legislature doesn't know what it means to be "ahead of the curve." This is why we'll continue to lag behind our neighbors until they get a clue.

[Charleston native]

Well why do something good now when you can suck for a while then be back to the same level later?

This is what distinguishes a state from being a leader or just another competitor in the market. Instead of grabbing the opportunities immediately, the state has to constantly play catch-up, and we're doing it again with the port.

[wheatie]

I haven't seen this mentioned, but NC is currently starting the development of a major port at Southport. This will be first class and a major competitor to Charleston, Savannah, and Norfolk.

[krazeeboi]

I haven't seen this mentioned, but NC is currently starting the development of a major port at Southport. This will be first class and a major competitor to Charleston, Savannah, and Norfolk.

This is true, but they've got some years to play catch-up. But once they do, I expect them to become a major East Coast contender.

Going back to a possible SC-GA joint port venture, it seems as though Sanford and GA Gov. Sonny Perdue have been in talks about this.

[wheatie]

This is true, but they've got some years to play catch-up. But once they do, I expect them to become a major East Coast contender.

South Carolina has some years to play catch up as well. Expansion will take time. This speaks to the urgency of SC's need to expand.

[Charleston native]

I really don't like the idea of a combined SC-GA port formation. It will only help Georgia and Savannah while slightly helping SC and hurting Chas...the only reason a combined port works at NY-NJ is the obvious location near New York City and other large cities in NJ.

Wheatie, SC indeed is behind, and the state will only continue to play catch-up with the constant bureacratic, time-consuming studies and meetings taking place. While other cities in other states take the initiative to expand using current highways, building new highways, utilizing rail, and expanding airports, the SPA in SC is still fighting just to get a port access road built to I-26! How can progress in this state be made with so many emplaced obstacles?

[krazeeboi]

South Carolina has some years to play catch up as well. Expansion will take time. This speaks to the urgency of SC's need to expand.

NC has to start from scratch for the most part, while Charleston has a good bit of infrastructure in place. It's not going to take as long as you seem to imply. Savannah and Charleston have always been neck and neck; that's nothing new.