Maersk Staying In SC Through 2014
The Port of Charleston’s largest customer will be keeping at least some of its business in South Carolina for the next five years according to a renegotiated deal announced Thursday by the company and the S.C. State Ports Authority (SPA).
The new deal “places Maersk Line’s cost structure in Charleston on a level playing field with other ocean carriers who use the port,” according to a statement released by the Danish shipping company.
“We have worked closely with the leadership of the South Carolina State Ports Authority since we initially voiced our concern about cost competitiveness for Maersk Line within the Port of Charleston,” said Gordon Dorsey, Senior Vice President of Operations for Maersk Line in North America. “We are pleased to have reached an agreeable solution for both Maersk Line and the Port of Charleston.”
SPA President Jim Newsome will formally announce the news in a speech Thursday night on the “State of the Port.”
Unknown at this point is whether or not Maersk’s traffic to the port – which has dropped by as much as 50% this year – will see an uptick as a result of the new agreement.
Obviously, something’s better than nothing – particularly seeing as Maersk had announced back in December that it was pulling out of Charleston completely after failing to reach an agreement with the SPA and the International Longshoremen’s Association.
In its heyday, Maersk represented as much as a quarter of the Port of Charleston’s traffic.
The new deal is a result of “hard work, new leadership and a full understanding of shipping line needs,” a source familiar with the new deal told FITS.
Maersk’s press released praised State Senators Larry Grooms, Glenn McConnell and Hugh Leatherman for their role in the negotiations.
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Comments
By newzjunkie on October 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
The issue all along was Bernie and his arrogance! Now that HE is gone – problem resolved. It was never about the Unions.
By Jed on October 22nd, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Wonder if we’ll ever see the details of the deal. Clearly Maersk got some serious concessions here, but even without the absurdly overstated economic impact that the SPA claims, it still means a lot of jobs that won’t be leaving.
By Ed on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:06 am
It is always about the money. A few years back , Maersk was 50% of Charleston’s container business. How much did the SPA reduce its rate to get Maersk to keep some of their business at Charleston?
Ideally, with a truly transparent state government, taxpayers should know the economics of a business venture they own. Especially since we are constructing another terminal, with no guarantee of any business, while struggling to maintain the volume handled way back in 1998.