Steinke: Competition raises Long Beach stakes

Steinke: Competition raises Long Beach stakes    The Port of Long Beach's major business threat is competition from other North American port cities, especially when the Panama Canal's expansion is completed by 2014.
   That was the assessment of Executive Director Richard D. Steinke in his annual State of the Port speech on Jan. 29.
   New locks and channels in the canal will be able to handle container vessels almost three times bigger than current size limits. East and Gulf coasts ports are investing heavily to prepare infrastructure to attract ocean carriers.
   Maritime industry sources estimate more than 3 million TEUs will immediately be moved off the West Coast to all-water service once the expanded canal opens for business, said Jeffrey D. Holt, managing director for infrastructure banking at the Bank of Montreal, in a mid-January presentation to the Transportation Research Board conference in Washington.
   Meanwhile, Long Beach and other California ports have already watched cargo divert to Canada and other U.S. ports for a host of other reasons such as cost, rail transport, proximity to market, and distribution center availability.

Steinke

   Steinke said Long Beach is responding with urgency 'to be the best, most cost-effective port for meeting the needs of our customers.
   'We need to develop our infrastructure to move cargo more efficiently and reliably if we are to continue to support the economy and create new jobs.'
   He said the port's head start on environmental initiatives gives it a competitive advantage and pointed to expansion of Pier S, new harbor dredging, the Middle Harbor terminal redevelopment, renovation of Pier G and replacement of the obsolete Gerald Desmond Bridge as examples of projects designed to help shippers move their goods.   
   West Coast ports two years ago began to realize the potential magnitude of cargo leakage to rival ports and have since collaborated to reverse the trend. ' Eric Kulisch