Port's container volume down 16%

A recent uptick in a few categories of exports was not enough to offset falling demand for most other goods that come through the Port of Charleston, the latest figures show.

The State Ports Authority said at a board meeting Tuesday that the number of containers that crossed its piers during the first 10 months of its fiscal year was down by about 127,000, or 16 percent, as of April 30.

That was reflected in a 12 percent decline in revenue to $118 million compared to the year-earlier period.

"That's mostly all driven by volume," said Peter N. Hughes, the maritime agency's chief financial officer.

Also, the SPA's net income fell by almost a third to $27.6 million compared to the first 10 months of fiscal

2008.

Fred N. Stribling, the agency's vice president of marketing and sales, described a number of comings and goings on the waterfront. He noted for example that shipping line Atlanticargo, a small but longtime local port customer, will discontinue its calls in Charleston because of plummeting rates. At the same time, he said, German carrier Hamburg Sud will join an existing service that calls at the port.

Though the Hamburg Sud deal adds no new ships immediately, the company's decision to pick Charleston over Savannah could bring new business opportunities, Stribling said.

Also, the port has noticed a slight increase in exports of waste paper and scrap metal. And stevedores at the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant have been busy loading military vehicles made in Mississippi by Navistar onto special racks for shipment to Pakistan, said Bill McLean, the SPA's vice president of operations manager.

"It didn't exist last year," Stribling said of that business.

But when asked about the prospect for a turnaround for the shipping trade, Stribling cited a recent industry conference he attended. The best guesses of several economists and maritime experts ranged from "2011 to four years from now," he said.

"No one wanted to be pinned down as to a glimmer of hope for when the economy will turn," Stribling said.

Meanwhile, John F. Hassell III, the SPA's interim chief executive, said talks between the authority and its biggest customer, Maersk Lines, continue and are "healthy," but he had no new developments to report. The port is trying to persuade the world's largest steamship line to reconsider plans to pull all of its business from Charleston by the end of 2010.

Also, the SPA said Tuesday that a $2 million federal grant and other funding sources will enable about 80 vehicles serving the port to be retrofitted with equipment to reduce air emissions.

The recently approved financing from the Environmental Protection Agency will offset more than half of the $3.5 million project. The vehicles to be upgraded are one dredge owned by Marinex Construction Inc.; two tugboats that belong to Stevens Towing Corp.; 36 SPA container lifters; and 40 trucks owned by Evans Delivery Service.

The SPA will contribute about $500,000 toward the project, said spokesman Byron Miller. The other vehicle owners will pay the rest.