New bids sought for Philadelphia terminal

New bids sought for Philadelphia terminal    The State of Pennsylvania said Wednesday it is once again looking for private partners to help it build a massive new container terminal in Philadelphia on the Delaware River.
   In 2008 the city asked for proposals from companies to build the “Southport” terminal on a site downstream from the Walt Whitman Bridge southwest of the existing Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, but then said in May 2009 it was suspending the bid process “to allow capital and financial market conditions to improve.”
   'Southport will allow the Port of Philadelphia to capture a greater share of waterborne commerce largely because of its size and access to rail service and major highways,' said Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell.
   The “core footprint” of the proposed facility is 119 acres, but 120 acres could be added if a proposal “justifies any additional acreage,” according to a solicitation for proposals to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the terminal.
   John H. Estey, chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, said the proposed location is the “premier site on the East Coast for new terminal development. Other parcels of this size, backed up by first-class rail and road infrastructure, simply do not exist on the eastern seaboard.”
   Last year when the state suspended the Southport project, four companies had qualified to bid on the project. But the state said the offers received were “non compliant” and “reflected the detrimental impact of the global recession and international credit crisis on the shipping lines, terminal operators and infrastructure investors that make up the bidding teams.” The four teams at that time were
   ' Hamburg S'd North America and Holt Southport Development Corp. Holt is a local stevedoring company.
   ' Delaware River Stevedores, another local stevedore, and its 50-50 owners, Ports America and Carrix, parent of Stevedoring Services of America.
   ' MOL and its TraPac terminal affiliate.
   ' Philippine-based International Container Terminal Services.
   ' DBM Fonds, a subsidiary of ABN AMRO.
   The state did not say at that time of if all four groups submitted bids.
   Despite suspending the bidding process last year, the state continued work on the project, dedicated up to $25 million for environmental studies, permitting, land acquisition, geotechnical work, site preparation, utility analysis, and site access work over the past year.
   The state said the developer for the Southport project would again be selected using a public, competitive selection process administered by the state Department of General Services. An informational webinar on the Southport project is scheduled May 20. More information is available here. ' Chris Dupin