JAXPORT, HAMBURG SUD IN EXPANSION TALKS
May 5, 2008
RICK EYERDAM

Hamburg Sud and the Port of Jacksonville have completed negotiations on a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding the carrier’s presence at the port.

Hamburg Sud is currently limited to a 35-acre lease at Jaxport’s Talleyrand Marine Terminal, where it handles its own ships as well as ships from Mediterranean Shipping Co.

The terminal handled 107,368 TEUs last year, up 18.2 percent from 90,800 TEUs in 2006, according to the port. Hamburg Sud’s volume rose 53.8 percent to 57,990 TEUs in 2007, up from 37,716 TEUs in 2006. The increase was mostly because of exports to South America.

Ron Baker, Jaxport’s chief financial officer, confirmed that the memorandum of understanding was being drafted and that the port would do what it could to find additional space for Hamburg Sud. He said the port is committed to acquiring more land to accommodate existing and new tenants. Hanjin Shipping Co. already holds a memorandum of understanding with the port authority to develop a 170-acre container terminal.

Hamburg Sud would prefer its own local terminal, Baker said. At its current site, the company provides stevedoring through a third party for MSC, which generates revenue that would be lost if Hamburg Sud were asked to share a terminal with another terminal operator.

The Hamburg Sud request coincides with Jaxport’s plans to develop 30 acres of property acquired from Jax Maritime Partners LLC, plus the adjacent 70 acres the authority is seeking to take by eminent domain from Keystone Coal Co. Both are located about a mile north of the Talleyrand terminal.

The port has suggested that it might offer the Keystone property for lease to a coal company to offset the cost of needed harbor dredging. Keystone’s property has access to Norfolk Southern track.

Jaxport also has reached agreement with CSX Corp. to develop a rail spur to serve the proposed Hanjin terminal and the soon-to-open TraPac Inc. terminal at Dames Point.