TOP US stevedore and terminal operator Ports America is pulling out of Oakland in order to focus on investments elsewhere.
That includes Los Angeles, Long Beach, the Pacific northwest and western Canada, Ports America said when announcing plans to terminate its lease on the Outer Harbor Terminal in Oakland and return the property to the port.
Oakland said the terminal would close in 60 days, and that ships and cargo would be redirected to other terminals in the port which have excess capacity. The port also expressed confidence that ―new and better uses‖ could be found for the Outer Harbor Terminal, including perhaps activities unrelated to containerised cargoes.
Outer Harbor is one of five marine terminals leased to private operators by the Port of Oakland. More than 2,000 ships, mostly from Asia, berth at the terminals each year, the port said.
The priority now is to minimised customer impact and maintaining Oakland’s cargo volume. ―There is ample capacity to absorb Outer Harbor’s volume at other Oakland terminals,‖ the port reassured customers.
―We’re disappointed that Ports America is leaving,‖ said Oakland’s maritime director John Driscoll. ―But we’re in advanced discussions with our maritime partners here to prevent disruption to the Oakland business.‖
Ports America said its long-standing joint venture partnership at West Basin Container Terminal and its recently acquired 30% ownership of International Transportation Services were key locations for Ports America’s strategy.
―Accordingly, Ports America is active in planning its expansion and investment opportunities in its existing locations at both the Port of Tacoma and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,‖ the New Jersey-headquartered group said.
Ports America also said it had been invited to join the process of looking for new opportunities in the Pacific northwest.
The west coast strategy complements what Ports America said it had already accomplished on the US east coast by investing in superior equipment and infrastructure at Ports America’s locations such as Port Newark Container Terminal, Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore and Miami, which is expected to benefit from new markets once the Panama Canal expansion is completed.