by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
A $200 million agreement with a Japanese Shipping firm has placed Jacksonville at the forefront of the international shipping industry, Rick Ferrin, the executive director of the Jacksonville Port Authority told the Rotary Club of Jacksonville Monday.
Ferrin told members at the group’s luncheon at the Omni Hotel about the impact from a 30-year lease between the Port Authority and Japanese-based shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL).
Currently ranked 13th in the nation, Jacksonville has the potential to break into the top 10 shipping markets after signing the lease. Ferrin said the lease should open the Asian market and generate jobs and revenue for the city.
“Our focus was to develop an all-water route with Asian companies,” said Ferrin who has been working with his team for the past four years on the plan.
Currently still in the design phase, construction will begin in 2006 on a 158-acre terminal between the Port Authority’s temporary cruise terminal and the existing cargo berth. Ships will start sailing with consumer goods between Jacksonville and ports in Asia beginning late 2007 to early 2008.
“Our trade with Asia has been predominately in automobiles and heavy machinery,” Ferrin said. “If you walk into any store - Lowe’s, Home Depot, K-Mart - and look at the products, they’re made in China. Those products made in China are predominately shipped to the west coast and trucked into the middle and eastern parts of the United States. This plan creates a direct link with Asia for local businesses.”
Ferrin said MOL will invest $150 million for the land between the Blount Island Terminal and the Dames Point Terminal. The Port Authority will invest the remaining $50 million as well as the land northwest of the current cruise line terminal.
“The facility will be extremely modern and state-of-the-art,” said Ferrin. “MOL will start out on 158 acres, but ultimately the terminal will be 200 acres.”
The Port Authority will be shipping 360,000 twenty-foot containers and after five years will be shipping 800,000 twenty-foot containers annually, he said.
“(The Port Authority) will be a gigantic economic engine by 2010,” Ferrin said. “Just imagine what that will do for jobs.”
Currently, the Port Authority contributes 7,000 direct jobs and 38,000 indirect and induced jobs, which produce $2.6 billion in revenue annually for Jacksonville.
By 2007, Ferrin said the Port Authority plans to have other big Asian shipping companies as tenants producing 1,800 more direct jobs and 3,800 spin-off jobs.
“The economic impact will be $872.2 million,” he said. “This is better than Jacksonville having three Super Bowls with no backups at Alltel toilets.”
The Port Authority concentrates on five areas of shipping: containerized, people, breakbulk, vehicles and liquid and dry bulk. Ferrin say the Port Authority is diverse from most ports because others only specialize in one or two areas.
“In five to 10 years you will see Jaxport’s coming of age and we will be the premier port in the southeastern United States,” said Ferrin. “We have the right combination of a great labor force, deep water, available property and a receptive city.”
Companies in Jacksonville tell the Port Authority they are paying 3,000 miles in trucking fees. Now, when this terminal opens they will be paying an average of 13 miles in trucking fees, according Peek.
“This will save businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars, which in turn they may be able to pass onto the consumer. If not lowering prices, at least keeping them steady,” he said.
Security issues continue to be the Port Authority’s primary concern, said Ferrin.
The Port Authority will be spending more than $4 million on security, up from the $800,000 it currently spends.
The plan will also have a substantial impact on the infrastructure of the city, said Ferrin. “The rail ways are inefficient so MOL will take products by truck over Interstate 295 around the north of the city.They will be hauling 1,000 forty-foot containers a year. The Port Authority is already working with state agencies to ensure all the bases are covered,” he said.