Wilmington, N.C. container volume down 4%

Wilmington, N.C. container volume down 4%    The Port of Wilmington, N.C. said Thursday that container volume fell 4 percent in the last fiscal year, as new services from ICL and Maersk Line helped balance out a nationwide decline in trade activity.
   The North Carolina Ports Authority did not release total container volume.
   'The two new container shipping companies that began service to the Port of Wilmington in March, Independent Container Line and Maersk Line, plus steady volumes from Wilmington's two weekly CKYH transpacific container services, helped bring total fiscal year 2009 container moves through the North Carolina port to within 4 percent of the container moves recorded in fiscal year 2008,' the ports authority said. 'The prolonged and deep economic recession, however, continued to erode general cargo tonnage volumes at Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City, with lumber, wood pulp, rubber and cement recording the largest declines.'
   The port's new call from Maersk is part of the Danish carrier's South Atlantic Express service connecting ports in Honduras and Guatemala to three U.S. East Coast ports. The new ICL service connects Wilmington and Chester, Penn. to Antwerp and Liverpool. The two CKYH services are all-water transpacific loops to the U.S. East Coast, according to ComPair Data.
   'In addition to securing the new container lines, the Ports Authority's work this year with the CKYH Alliance allowed the shipping lines to realize significant inland transportation cost savings by rerouting cargo through Wilmington that is destined for North Carolina, away from ports to the north and south,' said Thomas J. Eagar, CEO of the ports authority.
   General cargo volumes for fiscal year 2009 at North Carolina's ports fell 8 percent from fiscal year 2008, continuing the downward trend first seen in early 2007 with the softening of the housing market. The declines in general cargo commodities largely account for the port authority's fiscal 2009 year-end loss of $4.3 million, though the agency said it had reduced costs by $700,000 in fiscal year 2009, with another $700,000 in savings expected in 2010.