Ceres, Ports America compete for Seagirt

Ceres, Ports America compete for Seagirt    Two stevedores with long experience in the Port of Baltimore will compete to run the Maryland Port Administration’s Seagirt Marine Terminal.
   The port said Tuesday partnerships of Ceres Terminals Inc. and Alinda Capital Partners LLC, and Ports America Group-Highstar Capital have qualified to submit offers to enter into a possible public-private partnership agreement to operate Seagirt.
   Ports America has operated Seagirt Marine Terminal since its opening in the 1990s, and is the largest terminal operator in North America, handling nearly 13 million TEU containers annually at 15 container terminals. Ports America is owned by Highstar Capital Fund L.P., which is a $3.5 billion private equity fund.
   Ceres Terminals, along with parent shipping company NYK Shipping Line, operates 32 terminals around the world. Ceres handles more than 3 million TEUs annually at 23 ports in the United States and Canada. It performs some stevedoring services at Seagirt and has had a presence in Baltimore for more than 30 years.
   Alinda Capital Partners LLC is one of the world's largest investors in infrastructure, and manages the Alinda Infrastructure Funds, unlisted institutional funds with about $6 billion in capital and $18 billion in purchasing power.
   'We are pleased to reach the next step in this process and proceed forward with these two outstanding candidates,' said Acting Maryland Transportation Secretary Beverley K. Swaim-Staley. 'They will now compete to develop an agreement that is in the best interest of the State of Maryland. The ultimate goal is to identify a private partner that will contribute significant capital investment and enable the port to build a 50-foot berth by 2014, when the completed expansion of the Panama Canal is expected to bring more cargo and larger vessels from Asia to U.S. East Coast ports.'
   Bids are due Sept. 4 and the port said it expects to make a final recommendation to commissioners and the Board of Public Works by the end of the year. The port is interested in a lease of at least 30 years.
   The winning terminal operator will be required to invest in the berth, cranes and other infrastructure and pay annual rent. ' Chris Dupin