Ports America partners with Nova Scotia port promoter

Ports America and Sydney Harbour Investment Partners want to develop a dedicated, semi-automated, deep-water marine container facility than can handle ships carrying over 18,000 TEUs at the Port of Sydney, Nova Scotia.    Ports America and Sydney Harbour Investment Partners (SHIP) reached an agreement for the promotion, development and management of “Novaporte,” a proposed container terminal at the Port of Sydney, Nova Scotia.
   SHIP has exclusive development rights to approximately 500 acres at the Port of Sydney. With the support of Ports America and a specially formed development group, SHIP will be able to build a dedicated, semi-automated, deep-water marine container facility that can handle ships carrying over 18,000 TEUs, the two companies said in a press release.
   Construction will start after forming “sufficient customer volume commitments,” and once initiated, is expected to take about two years to complete.
   Under the agreement, Ports America would manage and operate the terminal for 40 years, providing a variety of services including full stevedoring, terminal labor management, terminal operating systems, and maintenance and repair.
   “Novaporte is a uniquely located deep water port able to handle the largest of the next generation of ultra-large container vessels,” Ports America Chief Strategy Officer Peter Ford said. “Geographically, it is the first stop for vessels on the Great Circle Route from Europe and Asia via the Suez.
   “It has abundant land, an adjacent 1,200-acre logistics park and is located in a foreign trade zone. Add to that abundant power, road and rail, as well as a skilled work force, and you have the makings of an East Coast gateway for the next generation of super ships,” Ford added.
   Albert Barbusci, the founding partner of SHIP, told American Shipper earlier this year that developers were “hoping to put a shovel in the ground in 2017.”
   In its quest to build a modern container port in Nova Scotia, SHIP and Ports America are competing with another group hoping to build a facility near Port Hawkesbury on the Strait of Canso, the waterway separating Cape Breton Island from the rest of Nova Scotia.
   In July, Seattle-based SSA Marine joined a group of Nova Scotia business leaders and Cyrus Capital Partners as an investor in the long-planned Melford International Terminal, a 315-acre container facility near Port Hawkesbury on the Strait of Canso.
   Both proposed terminals would compete with the Port of Halifax, which has been improving its ability to handle larger containerships. A Port of Halifax spokesman said earlier this year, it has been seeing ships in the 9,400-TEU range and could eventually handle 12,000-TEU vessels.