Report details options for Port of Wilmington, Del. expansion

The port will need $181.5 million over the next five to 10 years to bring it into good repair and meet current requirements, according to a draft strategic master plan submitted to the Diamond State Port Corporation, which oversees the port.    The Diamond State Port Corporation, which is the state agency that oversees the Port of Wilmington, Del., was presented with a draft strategic master plan May 16, including options for expansion.
   The report was prepared by AECOM, R.K. Johns & Associates, Remline, Duffield Associates and Paul F. Richardson Associates.
   According to the report, the Delaware River port needs $181.5 million over the next five to 10 years to bring it into good repair and meet current commitments. Of that total, $43.2 million has been funded, but another $138.3 million is unfunded. Much more money would be needed if the port decided to expand.
   In fiscal year 2015, the Port of Wilmington handled 6.8 million tons of cargo, according to the report. The port handles about 5 percent of East Coast international waterborne trade volumes.
   Located downriver from Philadelphia, it is the first major port on the Delaware River, about 63.4 miles from the Atlantic Ocean.
   The port says it “ranks as the nation’s leading gateway for imports of fresh fruit, banana, and juice concentrate and handles more than 200,000 TEUs annually, primarily for Dole Fresh Fruit Company and Chiquita Fresh North America.”
   In addition, the Port of Wilmington is a major hub for automobile and roll-on/roll-off cargo and also handles bulk and breakbulk cargo.
   Base demand at the port is expected to grow 4.8 percent annually for the next five years and 1.7 percent long term, the report said. In addition, the report noted that $145 million is needed to increase the capacity of the port to meet base demand through 2035.
   The report also evaluated three sites that could be used for expansion.Those projects could cost $491 million to $1.1 billion, the report estimated.
   The report said the Wilmington Harbor South Dredge Material Management Site should be secured for future port expansion opportunities.
   John Haroldson, manager of international trade at the port, said that because of activity at other locations on the river, the expansion of the Panama Canal and other reasons, the port thought it was important to have a master plan prepared, but that it was “very early on in this process.”
   In addition, Haroldson noted that Delaware’s Secretary of State, Jeffrey Bullock, who chairs the port’s board, has repeatedly said the state will look to private investors to help fund improvements at the port.
   According to the Wilmington News Journal, Bullock said the costs are “a challenge to a state that has significant budget constraints. So if we are going to expand in a significant way, we are going to have to partner with other investors.”
   Haroldson said a port expansion taskforce has been set up and there will be meetings and discussions about the future of the port “down the road, but these are long-lead items and investor support-dependent and will take some time to sort through.”