New services boost N.C. box volumes

New services boost N.C. box volumes    North Carolina State Ports Authority said container volumes were up 28 percent in the first quarter of its current fiscal year when compared to the same period last year.
   Thomas J. Eagar, chief executive of the agency, said the growth for the quarter ending Sept. 30 resulted from two new container shipping services that began in March 2009: Maersk Line’s weekly service to Central America, and Independent Container Line's weekly service to North Europe.
   In his annual 'State of the Ports' address Tuesday to the Cape Fear chapter of the World Trade Association, Eagar said Wilmington's two weekly transpacific services are also experiencing good volumes.
   General cargo volumes related to housing, construction and the automotive industry, however, have continued to decline. Lumber volumes, said Eagar, have dropped 90 percent at U.S. East Coast ports. While North Carolina ports have done better, they are still off 56 percent.
   The port is seeking grants to resume the reconstruction of one of the Port of Wilmington's container berths to extend the capabilities of the 100-foot gauge container cranes.
   Eagar also said preliminary plans are progressing for development of the new container terminal about 20 miles south of the Port of Wilmington and four miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun the reconnaissance study for the deepening of the navigation channel to the new terminal site and the North Carolina Department of Transportation is conducting a feasibility study for highway transportation to serve the new terminal.