"State of the Port" Mixed Messages at Luncheon Meeting

 

At the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia’s annual State of the Port luncheon, held October 14th at the Hyatt Regency at Penn’s Landing, the big issue related to ships that could be seen from the Hyatt’s ballroom windows. As recently reported by the Courier-Post in Port industry in flux, "Packed cargo warehouses, overcrowded airport runways and a navigational channel in the Delaware River that is shallow for modern shipping are holding the region back from reaching its economic potential" (This and all other quotes are from the Courier Post Port industry in flux, October 15, 2005).

About 250 people in industries directly affected by the port – shipping, trucking, rail, mass transit, and aviation – heard a similar message last year, except that progress appears to have been made. Commenting on the long-awaited deepening of the river channel from 40 to 45 feet, Dennis Rochford, president of the Maritime Exchange of the Delaware River and Bay, remains optimistic: "Fifty million has already been appropriated by the federal government and we expect another appropriation soon. The port authority's share is there, as well as shares from the three states. I'm confident it will move forward." The $275 million dredging project has been debated for the last ten years relating to environmental and financial issues.

Presentations detailed how the amount of cargo coming into Philadelphia's port is growing, bringing jobs and tax dollars to the local economy. Yet land for additional waterfront space continues to shrink. "Land is our most important commodity," said James T. McDermott Jr., executive director of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, which owns seven marine terminals. "We can't replace it. We can't grow. The key to our future is to acquire, either nicely, or sometimes through a hostile takeover."

John Matheussen, executive director of the Delaware River Port Authority, which operates the major bridges over the Delaware, said the authority would lose a major revenue stream without a busy port because of the high volume of truck drivers ferrying goods. Jay Jones, deputy executive director of the South Jersey Port Corp. which operates two Camden marine terminals, is looking to expand into a 190-acre site in Paulsboro.

The port's activities are so interrelated, that Philadelphia International Airport even keeps an eye on ship traffic now because most days they often interfere with planes landing.

Full article available for a fee at www.courierpostonline.com (article ID: chr40279585).