Hanjin Jacksonville terminal delayed 18-24 months

Hanjin Jacksonville terminal delayed 18-24 months    The Jacksonville Port Authority has announced an amended timeline that delays the expected completion of a new container terminal to 2016 from 2014.
   Hanjin Shipping Co. plans to build a $300 million terminal on 90 acres at the port authority’s Dames Point Marine Terminal, adjacent to the TraPac Container Terminal that MOL opened in January 2009.
   The new schedule “will permit enough time for improvement of the Jacksonville harbor to a post-Panamax depth, accommodating passage of the larger container vessels Hanjin and its partners will utilize,” the port said. It will take about 40 months to build the new facility.
   'After cooperating on a diligent review of our plans, we have came to the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interest to adjust the start date of this project,' said Dave Kulik, the port authority's board chairman. 'It is anticipated that the process of constructing the Hanjin-Jacksonville terminal will begin 18 to 24 months from now, allowing for the completion of the expected deepening of the St. Johns River and the opening of the new Hanjin Terminal to coincide.'

Kulik

   'We have been in communication with Hanjin leadership in New Jersey and Korea to coordinate efforts to work through this delay,' said Roy Schleicher. Monday the port’s board of directors promoted Schleicher to executive vice president from his previous job as chief commercial officer.
   'During this dialogue, Hanjin has continually stressed its commitment to Jacksonville” and the port, Schleicher said. “That commitment has not changed. I have worked closely with Hanjin through the years and they tell me they intend to push this project forward.”

Schleicher

   He added, “Hanjin is also very proud of its recent agreement with the International Longshoremen's Association' on manning levels for the highly automated terminal that the Korean shipping company plans to build.
   'Hanjin's plan to stand by us as we launch renewed efforts to get the deeper water we need to attract thousands of new private sector jobs to Jacksonville is vital to our effort,' said Paul Anderson, who joined the port as chief executive officer last week.
   The port wants to dredge the first 15 miles of the St. John River to allow deeper draft ships to reach terminals on Dames Point and Blount Island as well as private oil terminals.
   Anderson replaced Rick Ferrin, who stepped down as executive director of the port last summer after 13 years at the port. He called the channel deepening project “the last star that would have to align for Jacksonville.”