Port of Seattle Prepares for Growing Container Volumes

The Port of Seattle Commission yesterday voted to begin the planning and permitting process for a 700-foot pier extension at the Port's Terminal 5 container handling facility. The extension would bring the total length of the pier to 3,600 feet.

"The permit process can be quite time consuming," said Port of Seattle Commission President Paige Miller. "Getting started now will help us meet the needs of our customers and ensure that Seattle and the Pacific Northwest are positioned to benefit from projected increases in trade volumes."

The Port's tenant at Terminal 5, Eagle Marine Services, has not yet requested additional berth space, but container volume projections indicate that an additional berth will likely be needed.

The $1.6 million planning and permit process will include: defining the scope of the project; environmental review and permit applications required by state, local and federal regulations; sampling and characterization of sediments that may be dredged; geotechnical review and research; and preliminary design and engineering and cost estimates.

"Starting this work now will allow us to move faster when our tenant decides the additional vessel berth is needed," said Port of Seattle CEO M. R. Dinsmore. "We've seen growth in container volumes over the past couple of years and through June of this year volumes are five percent higher than 2003. The long term trend is for continued growth and we want to be prepared."

In 1998 the Port completed a $270 million expansion of Terminal 5. The 182-acre facility includes a dockside intermodal rail yard, a state-of-the-art truck gate and a dedicated truck overpass to speed the movement of cargo. Steamship lines calling at Terminal 5 include: APL, Limited; Australia New Zealand Direct Line (ANZDL); Columbus Lines; Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO); Hyundai Merchant Marine; Mitsui OSK Line (MOL); P&O Nedlloyd, Limited; Westwood Shipping Lines; and Alaska Ocean Seafoods.

A $300 million expansion of the Port's Terminal 18 container facility, leased and operated by SSA Marine, was completed in 2002. The 196-acre terminal has a dockside intermodal rail yard, a dedicated truck overpass, and four truck gates.

A $71 expansion project at the Port's Terminal 46 container facility, which serves Hanjin Shipping, will be complete this fall. The terminal has three new container cranes, a new truck gate with optical character recognition technology, new terminal buildings, and an upgraded pier and fender system.

"The investments we've made in our container terminals gives us the capacity to nearly double the 1.5 million TEUs that moved through our harbor in 2003," said Commissioner Miller. "Working with our customers and community, we hope to reach that goal in the next 15 to 20 years."