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by WILL FOLKS
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South Carolina’s political leaders and their cheerleaders in the mainstream media have spent the past quarter century fluffing our state’s results-challenged, grossly mismanaged ports system.
Not us…
In a chronically dysfunctional state loaded to the gills with ineffectual, politically appointed bureaucracies that consistently do “less with more,” the S.C. Ports Authority (SCPA) is quite possibly the gold standard for institutional incompetence. Unlike the Palmetto State’s bloviating politicians and reflexively regurgitating press corps – who continue to enable and attempt to explain away its ongoing failure – we’ve consistently called out the incompetence.
For decades, this media outlet has challenged South Carolina’s leaders to abandon their failed, politically driven approach to (mis)managing our port infrastructure – and turn the entire operation over to the private sector.
They have refused to listen… at an ever-escalating cost to citizens, taxpayers and to our state’s competitive position.
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The latest chapter in this costly saga? The recently announced “pausing” of operations at the agency’s $1.7 billion Hugh K. Leatherman terminal.
According to an SCPA news release published yesterday (June 25, 2026), the agency is “consolidating container operations to its Wando and North Charleston terminals in the short-term,” while pausing operations at the Leatherman terminal due to “industry headwinds, an uncertain trade forecast and tempered volumes.”
“We are working with our maritime partners to make this business decision to achieve long-term, sustainable growth,” SCPA chief executive officer Micah Mallace said. “The maritime industry, and the thousands of companies and people connected to our port, all depend on us — and we intend to deliver for them.”
Wait… long-term, sustainable growth?
There is no port “growth” in South Carolina, only contraction. And the only thing that’s been “sustainable” in recent decades is the erosion of our competitiveness on this front. The temporary shuttering of the Leatherman terminal is the latest evidence of SCPA’s ongoing (and increasingly expensive) failure to capitalize on what ought to be one of the Palmetto State’s most critical economic assets – a crown jewel of competitiveness that our leaders continue to squander.
Opened to great fanfare in April of 2021 (and expanded earlier this year), the Leatherman terminal was supposed to reverse decades of declining competitiveness at the Port of Charleston – which has been leapfrogged by the port of Savannah as the go-to destination on the Eastern Seaboard over the past decade-and-a-half.
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RELATED | MAJOR SHAKEUP AT SC PORTS
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“The Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal is an investment in the future of South Carolina that will spur economic development, create jobs, and further our state’s position as an international business destination for years to come,” status quo S.C. governor Henry McMaster said on the occasion of the terminal receiving its first call. “This project is a momentous achievement which highlights the strengths of Team South Carolina. I congratulate the South Carolina Ports Authority and everyone who has worked towards achieving this historic day.”
Unfortunately, the facility was beset from the beginning by all manner of problems – most notably serious issues with organized labor. Those issues prompted its closure from January 2023 through September 2024. Even if the facility were operating at full capacity, though, it would have created significant infrastructure problems in and around Charleston – which is already a bottleneck.
“The port of Charleston has been slow to address regional infrastructure challenges – specifically a lack of road and rail access to port facilities and the overall lack of waterfront space for new port operations in Charleston harbor,” I noted in the spring of 2022.
These problems persist… and as pro-free market S.C. senator Tom Davis has frequently observed, attempting to shoehorn additional port capacity into Charleston harbor is infeasible. Davis tried to get political and port leaders to instead make good on their 2005 pledge to devote the “full faith and credit” of the state toward building a terminal in Jasper County, home to the last remaining deepwater port site on the east coast.
They wouldn’t listen…
As usual, they eschewed common sense and plunged headlong into their ill-conceived, taxpayer subsidized misadventures. Hell, former governor Nikki Haley actively sabotaged our port system as part of her bid for national glory – while McMaster and legislative leaders have been asleep at the wheel for the past decade.
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At every step this millennium, South Carolina’s port leaders and their political overlords have taken the wrong step… and there’s been zero accountability for any of them (or for any of their myriad failures).
The solution to this worsening morass? It remains remarkably simple… get government (and politics) out of the maritime traffic industry.
And leave the running of our ports to the professionals…
“South Carolina should not be in the port business – and the management and development of these competitive assets should be left exclusively to the private sector,” this author wrote in the spring of 2021. “Allowing the private sector to manage the state’s port assets would not only enhance operational efficiency it could potentially free up potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in public money for needed infrastructure enhancements.”
Sadly, this advice continues to go unheeded.
To be clear: we have no issue with the state retaining ownership of infrastructure assets, but decisions regarding the development, deployment and operation of such assets are clearly above the pay grade of our political leaders.
Our state’s lawmakers and governor McMaster – who appoints all nine members of the SCPA’s governing board – have presided over the perpetual degradation and devaluation of this invaluable asset.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Georgia…
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@storyteller1492 Where Do Millions of Containers Go? ? #ContainerShips #PortLife #Savannah #InterestingFacts #tiktoklearn ? original sound – Story Teller
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That’s right… South Carolina is getting crushed.
Those who rely on our port – and want to see its competitive position restored – have seen enough from McMaster, SCPA chairman Bill Stern and the entire ports’ board.
“Wilson needs to fire the entire board including the newest appointment,” one waterfront insider told us, referring to Republican gubernatorial nominee Alan Wilson, who is widely expected to succeed McMaster as governor. “This is 100% on McMaster and (SCPA board chairman Bill) Stern.”
We concur…
It is well past time for the Palmetto State to radically reinvent its failed approach to running a port – and to install capable private sector leaders who can begin transitioning the management of these assets to the private sector. Whether it is Wilson or Democrat Jermaine Johnson who inherits the governor’s office next January, they must move immediately to scrap this entire board – and replace them with business-minded leaders who see the value of free market ports. More importantly, state lawmakers must empower those business leaders to focus solely on restoring our competitive glory – not doing the bidding of politicians and the special interests propping them up.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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SOUND OFF…
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1 comment
McMaster was a failure of EPIC proportions.