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Hwy H2 O Conference
- 1. Port of Toledo Short Sea Shipping Initiative HWY H2O Conference 2009 Short Sea Shipping Panel Joe Cappel, PPM® Sr. Manager Business Development
- 5. Putting the right equipment in place
Editor's Notes
- Thanks for the opportunity to participate in this panel and to explain to you a little about how the Port of Toledo is preparing for short sea shipping opportunities now and in the future.
- I’ll start by telling you a little about our port. The Port of Toledo has one of the most diverse cargo mixes on the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway System. It’s fifteen marine terminals and shipyard handle over 12 million tons of cargo and 700 vessel calls per season. The Port area spans across seven miles along the Maumee River into the Western basin of Lake Erie making it one of the largest land mass ports on the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System. Here are our numbers for 2008. As you can see the majority of our cargo consists of bulk materials like coal, iron ore and other types of dry bulk. We believe these commodities will always be the backbone commodities that we handle, however our port is very cargo diverse. We have robust London Metal Exchange handling and storage activity and have handled some of the largest project cargoes on the Great Lakes. In 2008 we handled a nuclear transformer weighing 480 tons from ship to rail. We also have handled wind towers, steel products, lumber, super sacks and other break bulk cargo. We would like to add containerized goods to our product mix so we can better serve the businesses in our region that ship and receive manufactured goods.
- Fortunately we have enough terminal space to accommodate growth for container handling, value added services and warehousing and manufacturing. In May 2008 our Port purchased 181 acres of brown field at the site of a former Chevron Gulf Oil refinery for $3.4. The property now known as the Ironville Docks is located adjacent to the current 110 acre general cargo terminal operated by Midwest Terminals and served by CSX rail. The Port has entered into a public private partnership with Midwest Terminals through a long term lease on the Ironville property. The existing general cargo docks and the new Ironville site provides Midwest Terminals with nearly 300 acres of terminal space under their leasehold. The Ironville property will provide access to the docks via Norfolk Southern and include a loop long enough for unit trains. This illustration shows a development plan for the 80 acres closest to the water. There is an additional 100 acres of Ironville not shown on this map. The expansion also allows for some of the bulk material to be moved from the existing general cargo facility to the Ironville docks allowing more paved lay down area at the general cargo facility for additional break bulk and container storage and handling.
- Over the last two years, Port staff has been very busy identifying and pursuing funding that improves port infrastructure and improves the efficiency of operations. Some of the grant funding is through the State of Ohio, some is federal through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects, and some is local through our Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), TMACOG. In total, over $33M worth of grant funded projects are underway at our Seaport and are shown on this map. These projects involve the acquisition of modern material handling equipment, improving and building new port roads and pipelines, and improving rail access for the shipyard and general cargo facility. Grants will also be used to prepare the Ironville facility for marine traffic by dredging the dock and installing public grain storage on the water side of the facility. All of these improvements will increase the efficiency and flexibility of terminal operations and support short sea shipping activities.
- Grant funding for the purchase of two new mobile harbor cranes, a material handler and dry bulk ship loading conveyor to replace three World War II era Liberty cranes that were still in use at the port will enable vessels, barges, trains and trucks to be loaded and unloaded much faster. For example, our current equipment can handle ten or less containers per hour. The new mobile harbor cranes will have the capability to at least double throughput for containers and could possibly triple throughput for bulk material handling. Working in tandem on a short sea vessel or barge, the mobile harbor cranes will make throughput competitive with that of coastal ports for container and bulk handling. We have been very fortunate in Toledo to discover partnerships and resources that have helped us to grow and modernize. I believe that many of the ports on our system are in similar situations operating with older equipment and facilities. For the system to reach its potential the Seaway and its terminals must reinvest in facilities and prepare for the future. We must also educate those in the supply chain and shed the image of being a “part time system with limited capabilities.” I say this because that is how our system was described publicly by a senior executive from a heavy lift vessel line at a convention I attended last week. I believe with modern equipment and infrastructure in place at our terminals and in the seaway we will have a stronger case against such statements. It is clear we are moving in that direction with transportation funding becoming more available for ports and other intermodal sites, Seaway infrastructure improvements, self mooring systems, new cargo discounts, and the potential for US and Canadian government incentives for short sea shipping activities.
- We must be consistent and realistic about the potential of short sea shipping activities at our ports. Launching services might involve subsidizing routes until they grow and become sustainable. Short Sea Services will also involve strong partnerships and strategic alliances between ports, terminals, vessel lines and others I believe there is general support and agreement that short sea shipping is better for the environment and will preserve our rail and road networks. It is the right thing to do. We need to build upon this support at all levels to overcome our obstacles and establish new routes throughout our system. Thank You.