Port of Charleston

[Spartan]

A GA-SC port would benefit both states. I assume that we would get to keep whatever share of the imports used out terminals. We need to look beyond rankings in the spirit of cooperation, which will ultimately benefit us.

I don't see NC's port as a big deal at this point. It may be a big player several decades down the road, but definitely not any time soon. Its still more convenient for half of the state (including Charlotte) to use Charleston than Wilmington/Southport.

[Charleston native]

You don't think a SC-GA port would hurt the port of Chas? I can't see how it would benefit SC when there is hardly any existing infrastructure to facilitate building a port terminal there. It would mostly benefit Savannah and take away more port traffic from Chas. True, the SC side of the port terminal would take in some jobs and tax revenue, but the majority of the financial impact would be felt in GA.

A spirit of cooperation is fine, but it's unnecessary at this point. Competition is what will bring more jobs and opportunities to both ports in the current economy. I would worry about cooperation in the future when both terminals are systematically built out and virtually unable to take anymore tonnage.

[Spartan]

While the port "as a whole" may have higher numbers (which is not necessarily assured), it would still benefit SC because we will get to share their spotlight. It would be less of a "we're beating Georgia" thing. Charleston's rank means little more than bragging rights because the rankings change over time, as we saw with Charleston's slip to #4. What was its ranking before the naval base moved in? I'm sure it wasn't #2. It was probably 7 or 8 (or whatever).

I think that the overall benefit to South Carolina is providing a stable economy to Jasper County. A new town could be created near the port, and new money and life could be pumped into that region of our state. Jasper is one of the poorest and least equipped counties in the state economically, and certainly the Lowcountry. I want to see things happen there that will benefit them (which in turn benefits SC as a whole).

[krazeeboi]

CN, I'd probably agree with you if it weren't for all of the legal issues surrounding the state obtaining the land (which is owned by GA) to build a port facility on to begin with. I think going with a joint port is the best possible solution.

[SimCity]

The odds of the Port of Charleston seeing increased competition to the south increased today as Gov. Perdue of Georgia and Gov. Sanford met in Hardeeville to iron out plans for a new steamship terminal in Jasper County to be jointly built, owned, and operated by both states with an eye for replacing New York-New Jersey as the dominant port on the East Coast. While this is certainly a threat to Charleston's maritime industry it is exciting to see the two states cooperating. Maybe this could lead to other joint ventures such as mass transit by rail.

[krazeeboi]

I think this is the best choice overall for the state. I didn't expect to see an official announcement so soon though.

[SimCity]

I think this is the best choice overall for the state. I didn't expect to see an official announcement so soon though.

Nor did I,this was a complete surprise. The two govenors seem to be moving pretty quickly on this issue. There may be a lot at stake here.

[krazeeboi]

A few challenges to carrying out this plan include:

[vicupstate]

A few challenges to carrying out this plan include:

[krazeeboi]

Unless our lawmakers are truly interested in more bickering while the land just sits vacant when it could be bringing some money to the state (which I hope to God isn't the case), I see them eventually complying with this.

[Amapper]

You don't think a SC-GA port would hurt the port of Chas? I can't see how it would benefit SC when there is hardly any existing infrastructure to facilitate building a port terminal there. It would mostly benefit Savannah and take away more port traffic from Chas. True, the SC side of the port terminal would take in some jobs and tax revenue, but the majority of the financial impact would be felt in GA.

You have hit on what should be the "deal breaker", because it points out why most of the businesses will locate on the Savannah side of the river where the highway and rail lines are. We might as well just sign over a half of our economic development funds to Georgia. That South Carolina would even consider this is beyond any logic.

[SimCity]

Welcome to the planet Amapper. I hope you will enjoy yourself here. It will indeed be interesting to see how this plays out. There are sure to be many South Carolinians who oppose this plan, this possibly includes the Lowcountry delegation in Columbia which is supposed to have a dominant amount of legislative clout from what I've heard. I don't really see Georgians opposing this plan much. Savannah is their main port and the only other port, Brunswick, is basically a breakbulk facility similar to Georgetown.

[Spartan]

Yes, welcome to the forum!

The containers typically area desinged to move from ship to train to truck... so there is no reason that SC cant capitalize on some of that truck traffic or just build a rail line up to the existing ones just up the road.

[MikesLogic]

I imagine we would build rail out to the new port.

[SimCity]

I imagine we would build rail out to the new port.

We would not even have to do that. The most we would have to do is to build rail to the border of the port or just beyond and CSX or Southern would pick it up from there. Both companies would be eager to profit from all of the container traffic such a terminal would produce by connecting their lines to our new port.

[Spartan]

Jasper County has given up the fight against the State Poprts Authority over control of the proposed Savannah River Terminal.

Some clarification on what this new terminal would mean for Charleston:

"The joint authority, similar to the Ports Authority of New York and New Jersey, would be separate from the existing port authorities in South Carolina and Georgia and would compete with them."

Article

This means that the Georgia Ports Authority would be relegated to operations in Brunswick, Columbus, and Bainbridge, which I am confident don't have the numbers, even combined, to rival Savannah.

[cocateho]

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.

I live in savannah, and i saw an article in the papers the other day saying that a joint custody port was approved and going to happen.

so apperantly ga and sc can agree on something. im just glad savannah is taking this opportunity for once, its usually just as retarded considering growth as charleston or sc

[SimCity]

I live in savannah, and i saw an article in the papers the other day saying that a joint custody port was approved and going to happen.

so apperantly ga and sc can agree on something. im just glad savannah is taking this opportunity for once, its usually just as retarded considering growth as charleston or sc

In the grand scheme of things local politics played a very small role in this. I doubt that the port community in Savannah was overwhelmed with joy over this and the Charleston port community even less so. However, this is a landmark development in regional corporation and working together is always better than competing against each other.

[Amapper]

In the grand scheme of things local politics played a very small role in this. I doubt that the port community in Savannah was overwhelmed with joy over this and the Charleston port community even less so. However, this is a landmark development in regional corporation and working together is always better than competing against each other.

News articles have reported state officials on both sides of the border as calling this proposed deal as a "win-win" situation. A review of geography tells a different story.

This new maga terminal, located just across the river from Savannah, will for all intents and purposes be part of the Georgia Port system, no matter what they call the new entity. The docks and cranes will be of little use to Charleston industries and most new companies will locate on the GA side of the river where there is excellent rail and highway infrastructure already in place. Those that build near the port will look to Savannah for supplies and employees, not an hour and a half away in Charleston.

Our SC leaders have just guaranteed Savannah will leave the Port of Charleston in the dust. Thank you Columbia.

[krazeeboi]

I do not think this spells the death of the Charleston port as some of you guys make it out to be. Firstly, the justification of the jointly-operated port isn't about boosting the profile of the port of Charleston (it's not the only port in the state, you know), but the statewide port system. Secondly, with the state of Georgia owning the land, if anything, I think this would have turned out to be a 100% state of Georgia facility if there was no compromise coming from SC. Thirdly, even though this new port will have close proximity to the port of Savannah, it's not the same thing, so if Savannah's port continues to outperform Charleston's, I won't be because of this new port facility, at least primarily.

[SimCity]

I'm still trying to figure out how Georgia was allowed to own land in SC. That's insane! That's like Mexico owning El Paso,TX or San Diego.

[Amapper]

It's so much that Savannah out performed Charleston, it's that GA has out invested SC. We sealed our fate when we caved to the folks moving onto Daniel Island and abandoned the "Global Gateway", something that had been invisioned long before the first new home was built there. It's eight berths would have guaranteed Charleston's position as the 2nd busiest port on the east and gulf coasts. The damage could still be mitigated by building a direct highway link to Charleston, but with the environmentalist lock on the ACE Basin, that won't happen either.

[krazeeboi]

It's so much that Savannah out performed Charleston, it's that GA has out invested SC. We sealed our fate when we caved to the folks moving onto Daniel Island and abandoned the "Global Gateway", something that had been invisioned long before the first new home was built there. It's eight berths would have guaranteed Charleston's position as the 2nd busiest port on the east and gulf coasts.

Exactly; that's definitely what messed things up for the port. Developers' interests trumped economic interests, which is really a shame.

[Charleston native]

I do not think this spells the death of the Charleston port as some of you guys make it out to be. Firstly, the justification of the jointly-operated port isn't about boosting the profile of the port of Charleston (it's not the only port in the state, you know), but the statewide port system. Secondly, with the state of Georgia owning the land, if anything, I think this would have turned out to be a 100% state of Georgia facility if there was no compromise coming from SC. Thirdly, even though this new port will have close proximity to the port of Savannah, it's not the same thing, so if Savannah's port continues to outperform Charleston's, I won't be because of this new port facility, at least primarily.

Amapper provides some good points, though, krazee. Granted, this will not be the death of the Port of Chas, but it can spell a downgrade in economic momentum that the city had. It also may not be the only port in the state, but it is the central port of SC that handles the most tonnage and has the best highway access thus far. Operations, administration, and central customs are all HQ'd in Chas...if traffic is veered away, those agencies might decide to move where most of the action is.

And krazee, I have to disagree with you on Savannah gaining the upper hand. Savannah will indeed see more traffic and business because of the extra visibility with the largest container ships. As more super-container ships dock at this port, they'll also have the opportunity to use Savannah's across the river, if the other terminal is not available.

Indeed, the Daniel Island issue severely degraded the port's ability to expand, and those incompetent state legislatures and local leaders should be put to task when the shipping economy of Chas begins to fade.

There has been some good news, however. The Army Corps of Engineers approved the old Navy base terminal! The permit lists 26 conditions, the most notable being that an access road linking the terminal with Interstate 26 must be built before the terminal can open. The three-berth port is projected to open in 2013. It is designed to handle the equivalent of 1.4 million 20-foot-long shipping containers a year. Check out the link below:

Army Corps OKs terminal

[krazeeboi]

^That's certainly good news.

As to the jointly-owned port, it would seem to be more of an overflow port if anything. I would imagine that most containers would still overwhelmingly opt for either the port of Charleston or the port of Savannah. Increase capacity at the port of Charleston, and this new facility won't be as big of a threat.