Maersk Awaiting Port Moves

The shipping line that used to be Port of Charleston’s biggest customer could be on its way back …

Before a decision is made, though, Maersk Sealand is waiting for South Carolina leaders to figure out who will run the state’s embattled port system, as well reach a determination as to how future port board members will be selected.

Not surprisingly, the latter debate has turned into a testy political battle between S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford and his “Republican” antagonists in the S.C. General Assembly.

It’s frankly amazing this state can tie its shoes, let alone run one of the nation’s ten largest (formerly five largest) ports.

Anyway, sources familiar with the negotiations are optimistic.

They say Maersk – which announced last December that it was leaving Charleston – and the S.C. Ports Authority are close to reaching a deal.

“Maersk is waiting on the port restructuring bill and the appointment of an executive director,” a source familiar with the negotiations told FITS. “They’re not going to do anything until those two issues are resolved. They’re not going to make commitments until they see where we’re going to be in five or ten years.”

Over the past few years, the Port of Charleston has seen its competitive position plummet while Ports Authority staffers were awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses.

Additionally, over the past decade, South Carolina’s “total state control” method of port management has shut the door on billions of dollars in capital investment, both in Charleston and at a deepwater port site in Jasper County.

The poor performance has led to the ports becoming a political football.

Just this week, Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed a badly-flawed port restructuring bill that would have stripped future governors of their ability to exercise control over the Ports Authority board.

Pushed by Sen. Glenn McConnell, the bill attracted Democratic support because former Republican Superintendent of Education candidate (and recently-elected SCGOP chairwoman) Karen Floyd is a member of the Ports Authority Board.

Lawmakers will deal with Sanford’s veto when they return to Columbia later this month, and whether or not they can succeed in overriding the governor could very well depend on who shows up.

One lawmaker who spoke with FITS on the condition of anonymity said the vote was “down to the margins, one or two votes” and could “go either way.”

Still, those familiar with the negotiations are confident the Palmetto State will keep a sizeable portion of Maersk’s business.

“I believe they’re going to stay,” one source tells FITS. “I think we’ve given them a really fair offer.”

Maersk, which is looking at excess port capacity up and down the Eastern Seaboard, is also entertaining offers from ports in Jacksonville, Wilmington and Norfolk.

All of those facilities offer far less “government-intrusive” management deals, which has some involved in the deal concerned.

“They may go someplace else,” another source says, “but our fingers are crossed.”

So are ours.

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