ILA, Hanjin reach deal in Jacksonville

ILA, Hanjin reach deal in Jacksonville    Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association and Hanjin Shipping have reached an agreement over manning at a planned new terminal in the Port of Jacksonville.
   Hanjin and the port said the agreement paves the way for construction of a 90-acre container facility at the Dames Point Marine Terminal in North Jacksonville. The $300 million terminal is expected to open for business by 2014, the port added.
   “After months of negotiations, I'm pleased to hear that we've finally reached an agreement with the ILA regarding the manning structure for our new terminal in Jacksonville,” said G.S. Choi, executive vice president and chief executive officer of Hanjin’s terminal business unit in a letter to the port.
   “Despite facing numerous obstacles such as the global financial crisis, this terminal stands as a testament to what is possible when negotiations are conducted in good faith. The operation of this new terminal will not only generate millions in revenue for the city, but provide new jobs for the citizens of Jacksonville,” Choi said.
   He noted Hanjin recently opened a new, semi-automated terminal in Algeciras, Spain, and that, “like Jacksonville, this new terminal was the very first of its kind in their country. Hanjin is proud and honored to take its first step in terminal operations on the United States East Coast.”
   While an ILA official could not be reached immediately to comment on details of the deal, port authority spokesperson Nancy Rubin confirmed the port received news Monday night that ILA members had approved a deal in a joint meeting of locals that included longshore and checker locals.
   “It’s a milestone we have all been wanting to happen,' Rubin said. “It’s a big-picture move for the port and the ILA and the Jacksonville area.”
   Rubin said the ILA-Hanjin agreement clears an obstacle that had caused the port’s board of directors to delay negotiating with a design firm awarding a design contract from its agenda back in December 2009.
   The port authority board’s next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 27.
   In December 2008, port executives signed a 30-year lease agreement with Hanjin. The new terminal will be a key hub operation for Hanjin's East Coast port activity, with capacity to handle 750,000 containers each year, the port said.
   Hanjin is Korea's largest, and the world’s 10th-largest, container ship operator, according to information service Alphaliner. The proposed Hanjin Container Terminal will be Hanjin's first dedicated U.S. operation outside the West Coast where its Total Terminal International subsidiary operates facilities in Long Beach, Oakland, and Seattle.
   Jaxport said the new terminal at Dames Point is “a strategic move meant to capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal and the anticipated increase in container traffic along the East Coast.”
   Another carrier, MOL, opened a 158-acre container terminal at Dames Point in 2009. ' Chris Dupin