The Jacksonville Port Authority announced a new customer as well as legislation that could support its efforts to improve the shipping channel at Mile Point.
Port CEO Paul Anderson announced that Evergreen Line has partnered with MOL Liner Ltd. to launch an all-water service linking major Asian ports to destinations on the U.S. East Coast, including Jacksonville, via the Suez Canal. The service will start in June.
Ten ships of 4,500-5,600 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) will be deployed in the joint service. Evergreen Line will provide one vessel with others operated by MOL. The first sailing is planned on June 3 from Hong Kong.
“Evergreen was one of the first visits that Roy (Schleicher) and I made when I got here a year ago. I knew how important they could be as a huge Taiwanese carrier and they will impact our company,” said Anderson.
Schleicher is executive vice president of the port.
The announcement follows the recent addition of two international container carriers that started offering service through Jacksonville for the first time at the beginning of May.
China Shipping Container Lines of Shanghai, China, and United Arab Shipping Company, headquartered in Kuwait, now offer container service via CMA CGM’s Pacific Express 3 Service through APM Terminals at the port’s Blount Island Marine Terminal.
The development makes the port the last port of call on the PEX 3 rotation’s westbound leg, following U.S. stops in Houston, Mobile, Ala., and Miami.
“As part of Evergreen’s cooperation with MOL, the company will continue the route that adds the vibrant port of Jacksonville to its itinerary. Evergreen looks forward to adding tonnage and service to the growing U.S. Southeast,” said Barbara Yeninas, Evergreen spokeswoman.
The port also received news on Friday about the Mile Point project when Congresswoman Corrine Brown passed an amendment to H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2013 to authorize funding for improved navigation at Mile Point.
“I have served as one of the biggest advocates for the Port of Jacksonville. I have also worked closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for several years to secure authorizing language and funding for the navigational improvements at Mile Point, and I am so pleased that with the passage of this amendment, that the Port will be even closer to fixing this dangerous problem,” said Brown in a statement.
U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw also supported the amendment.
“This amendment helps clear the way for the use of state and local funds on the Mile Point project, enabling work to begin immediately on one of Northeast Florida’s most important job-generating projects,” Crenshaw said in a statement.
Anderson looked at the legislation as a first.
“It’s a groundbreaking achievement to have the language to support Jacksonville’s port in the National Defense Authorization Act,” said Anderson.
The act moves on to the U.S. Senate for review.
The port will sign a design agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday for improvements to Mile Point.
Mile Point is the section of the shipping channel where the Intracoastal Waterway and St. Johns River currents pose navigational hindrances for deep draft vessels during certain tidal conditions.
The board also voted to allow Anderson to enter into a sublease agreement with MOL/TraPac for about 15 acres that would allow the Department of Defense to store about 4,000 military Humvees or similar vehicles that are to be sold through the Department of Defense Foreign Military Sales program.
The vehicles will be shipped to Afghanistan, according to Schleicher. The Foreign Military Sales program is the government-to-government method for selling U.S. defense equipment, services and training.
The port has a 30-year lease with MOL/TraPac at the Dames Point facility. According to the contract, the board has to approve any sublease of the property.
“It could be stored for close to a year. Based on that information the revenue to the port is about three quarters of a million dollars. To make this thing happen, to make it run smoothly, we needed additional land to allow us to store this property. We went to TraPac and we are working out the final details,” said Schleicher.
356-2466