Delfin Group USA plans North Charleston expansion

An expansion-minded business previously known only by the code name "Project Bluewater" has been unveiled: Petroleum product manufacturer Delfin Group USA plans to expand its North Charleston plant.

Headquartered in Russia, Delfin purchased the former Shell Lubricants site on Virginia Avenue for $20 million less than a year ago. Now it plans to invest $55 million in the facility. Delfin will retrofit the plant's existing infrastructure to support manufacturing for its automotive and industrial lubricants to be sold in the U.S. and abroad.

The company's North Charleston operation employs 15 workers but will add 160 jobs within the next three to four years, according to a statement Monday.

Delfin said it will complete the initial phase of the expansion next year.

Fished out

Some area restaurants were bracing for a potential seafood shortfall on the heels of the abrupt closing of a big purveyor of fresh fish and other ocean fare.

Charlotte-based wholesaler Poseidon Seafood shut down all of its operations on Nov. 21, including a North Charleston processing plant that it acquired about 18 months ago.

The local operation, which dates back to the mid-1980s and was formerly known as Lowcountry Lobsters Ltd., was considered one of the top three seafood suppliers for restaurants in the region. It also sold to some grocery stores in the area.

Poseidon was founded in 1986, and it sold fresh and frozen seafood to grocery stores, restaurants and other customers in 11 states.

IDs, please

Today is the deadline for workers at South Carolina port facilities to have a federal identification card needed to enter the secured maritime terminals.

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential, required by the Maritime Transportation Security Act, use embedded fingerprint data. The Transportation Security Administration is rolling out the program, and the Coast Guard will enforce it with spot checks and annual reviews. Local enrollment began nearly a year ago.

Port officials, after sampling people passing through their terminal gates, estimated that 90 percent of workers who need a TWIC have applied and that 75 percent have the ID in-hand.