Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Bechtel in talks with U.S. about funding East Coast offshore port
On Sunday, U.S. engineering, construction and project management firm Bechtel announced its plans to substantively alter the container trade in the U.S.
According to a report by Bechtel, they are in talks with the U.S. government about funding an offshore port on the East Coast that would reduce overall shipping costs in the U.S. by 30 to 40 percent. The offshore port would reduce inland transport distances and negate the need to upgrade existing ports on the West and East Coasts.
"Currently up to 70 percent of West Coast containers move east by rail and road," says Bechtel's ports sector manager, Marco Pluijm. "If these containers shifted from overland transport to all-water direct import via the Suez Canal to an offshore port, significant savings would be possible."
Bechtel makes a case that the majority of imports to the U.S. make landfall on the West Coast from Asia, with 70 percent of containers needing to be shipped overland to the East Coast region, which has the greatest demand. Further, the mega-sized Post-Panamax vessels are pressuring ports to significantly expand their infrastructure and facilities, including increasing channel depth through dredging and buying more expensive container handling equipment to handle the bigger ships and their higher volume.
The idea is new to the U.S., but has proved successful in Abu Dhabi where Bechtel developed the Khalifa Port.
Pluijm says a six-berth offshore port would be built where freight would be offloaded and then re-loaded onto smaller ships capable of using the existing port facilities on land, negating the need to upgrade port infrastructure and cutting transport times and costs significantly.
For more of the Chicago Chronicle story: www.chicagochronicle.com
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