Seattle Port, key customers agree to lease extensions

Cruise and container terminal operators guarantee role for 30 years

The Port of Seattle Commission has authorized lease extensions for its largest and newest container terminals.

The Port Commission instructed the Port's CEO, M.R. Dinsmore, to sign 30-year leases for SSA Terminals to operate the Port's Terminal 18 on Harbor Island and a new, combined Terminal 25-30 in the Duwamish waterway.

"This container terminal expansion guarantees that companies will continue to bring business, revenue and good-paying jobs to our region for the next 30 years," said Patricia Davis, president of the Port of Seattle Commission.

In addition, the commission authorized lease amendments with Cruise Terminals of America, which operates the Port's cruise terminals at Pier 66 and Terminal 30.

Davis noted the new lease agreements are part of the Port's plans to expand its container operations in the Seattle Harbor. Port staff currently is investigating a major switch in the harbor, in which its cruise operations at Terminal 30 would be transferred to Pier 91, at the north end of Elliott Bay. If that change is made, Terminal 30 would be combined with Terminal 25 and reopened as a 70-acre container terminal.

The new lease arrangements are seen as a key to the move, which could mean up to $120 million in new investment by the Port. If approved later this year by the Port Commission, SSA Terminals would operate both Terminal 18 and the combined Terminal 25-30. Work would be completed in two to three years. SSA Terminals, an American company based in Seattle, is one of the largest privately held companies in Washington State and a world-wide operator of marine terminals.

Cruise Terminals of America, also based here, is a joint venture of SSA Marine, the General Steamship Co., and Columbia Hospitality, Inc. CTA currently manages cruise terminals at Pier 66 and Terminal 30. Its lease would carry over to cruise operations if the switch is made from Terminal 30, in the south part of the harbor, to Pier 91, which is near Magnolia. The CTA lease is for seven years, with a five-year option after that.

"This move is aimed at capturing the growth in the container business that we know is coming," said Davis.

The Port of Seattle experienced double-digit growth in its container operations in the past two years and was the nation's fastest growing container port on a percentage basis. Cruise operations this year will include 200 cruise calls and nearly 750,000 passengers, 6 percent more passengers than in 2005.