Port development advocates to tour Packer Avenue terminal
With 80 percent of the Delaware River navigation channel deepened to 45 feet, officials including Sen. Robert Casey (D., Pa.) and Mayor Kenney planned to tour Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia Friday afternoonand discuss how a deeper channel will keep Philadelphia competitive with other major ports.
With 80 percent of the Delaware River navigation channel deepened to 45 feet, officials including Sen. Robert Casey (D., Pa.) and Mayor Kenney planned to tour Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia Friday afternoonand discuss how a deeper channel will keep Philadelphia competitive with other major ports.
The dredging work that began in March 2010 should be completed by late 2017 between Philadelphia and the Atlantic Ocean.
Sen. Casey announced in February that $55 million, the final chunk of federal funding to deepen 103 miles of the river from 40 feet to 45 feet, was in the Army Corps of Engineers' current work plan and in President Obama's proposed budget for next year.
U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D., Pa.) said on April 19 that the final federal appropriation for the deepening was in the U.S. House's Energy and Water Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2017, which begins Oct. 1.
Casey and Mayor Kenney, who have been enthusiastic supporters of port expansion to create jobs, were joined Friday by Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) board chairman Gerard "Jerry" Sweeney, state Rep. Bill Keller (D., Phila.), and Boise Butler, president of International Longshoremen's Association Local 1291.
That port expansion includes 194 acres at the eastern end of the Navy Yard, known as Southport, out to bid for development. Gov. Wolf has said the number of potential jobs created from Southport will depend on the type of development.
If Southport is developed entirely as an energy terminal, he said, up to 590 jobs could be created. If the site is developed completely for a "non-energy use," Wolf said, up to 3,720 potential jobs could be created.
The PRPA, a state agency which owns the Southport land and plans to lease it, has asked six groups to submit financial and development plans by Aug. 31. Proposed uses include a marine terminal to handle container cargoes, an energy port, and additional automobile-processing space. Thousands of Hyundai and Kia vehicles arrive here annually on ships from South Korea, headed to dealer showrooms.
Cargo volumes grew at the Philadelphia port in 2015 for the sixth consecutive year. Total tonnage surpassed 6 million tons, up 2.38 percent from 2014, the port authority said.
Port officials say a deeper river channel should put more cargo on ships coming into the ports and allow larger ships to sail the river after the Panama Canal expansion is completed this year.
Now, large ships have to be careful coming up the Delaware. Some transfer cargo onto smaller vessels, a process known as "lightering," before coming upriver.
With deeper water, Philadelphia could be a ship's first port of call, instead of second or later.
Ships are getting bigger, and the largest U.S. ports already have deeper water: Baltimore; Norfolk, Va.; and Oakland, Calif., are dredged to 50 feet. Charleston, S.C., is at 45 feet, and Savannah, Ga., at 42 feet. Los Angeles soon will be deepened to 53 feet, and Long Beach, Calif., to 76 feet. The Port of New York and New Jersey is being deepened to 50 feet from 45.
The next steps for the deepening project include more rock blasting near Marcus Hook, which will begin in December. Dredging work at Broadkill Beach in Delaware has been completed, said Ed Voigt, public affairs chief for the Army Corps' Philadelphia District.
The next phase, deepening a stretch of river in the upper Delaware Bay, will begin later this year, Voigt said.
The last section to be dredged will be between Wilmington and Chester next year. "The channel should be open for business by the end of 2017 or early 2018 at the latest," Voigt said.
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