Thursday, October 18, 2007 - 3:02 PM EDT

Port signs deal with S. Korean shipper

Jacksonville Business Journal

The Jacksonville Port Authority has reached an agreement with a South Korean shipping line to build a $360 million terminal here.

Port Authority officials and Mayor John Peyton signed the deal with Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd. early Thursday in Seoul, South Korea.

It's the second major Asian shipping line to choose Jacksonville for a new terminal, following Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., the Japanese shipper that signed a 30-year deal with the city in 2005.

The Hanjin operation is at least on a par with the Mitsui deal, said Jerry Mallot, executive vice president of Cornerstone, the economic development arm of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
"It appears it will be at least as big and could be larger than Mitsui," he said.

The memo of understanding now allows Hanjin and the Port Authority to move forward on contract negotiations on construction, financing and operations at the terminal. The deal with Hanjin calls for a 170-acre terminal to begin operations in 2011. The terminal will be capable of handling a million 20-foot equivalent units annually.

"Today's agreement with Hanjin underscores Jacksonville's new role in global trade," said Rick Ferrin, executive director of the port authority, in a statement. "With this historic signing, not one, but two major players in the international shipping arena have given notice in a big way that Jaxport is the place to be."
Port authority officials said the Hanjin deal could have an annual economic impact of as much as $1 billion and will directly and indirectly create thousands of jobs in Northeast Florida.

Perhaps as important, it cements Jacksonville's position as a player in the Asian shipping business.
"It means we are very serious in this business," Mallot said. "We weren't serious at all in the Asian business until we got Mitsui."

Mallot said Jacksonville officials were told when they were pursuing Mitsui that if they landed one Asian carrier, they were likely to get another. And now that there are two signed up, a third is likely.
"It would not surprise me to see a third come into the marketplace in the next year or so," Mallot said.
The terminal will be the fifth at Jaxport and the first for Hanjin on the East Coast.


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