PORT OF SEATTLE COMPLETES TERMINAL 18 EXPANSION

PORT OF SEATTLE COMPLETES TERMINAL 18 EXPANSION    The port of Seattle and SSA Terminals have completed the expansion of container terminal 18 in the port, the largest container handling complex in the Pacific Northwest.
   The $300-million expansion of Terminal 18 has increased the area of the facility to 196 acres, nearly twice its previous size.
   The expansion also included upgrading the facility’s on-dock intermodal rail yard, which can now simultaneously handle four doublestack container trains.
   “Terminal 18 is the second so-called ‘megaterminal’ in the harbor,” said M.R. Dinsmore, chief executive officer of the port of Seattle. “Combined with Terminal 5 in West Seattle, our port now has the capacity to handle 2 to 2.5 million containers per year,” he added.
   In 2001, the port handled a total throughput of 1.3 million containers.
   In addition to more acreage and a larger intermodal yard, the expanded terminal features a new truck access route, a new container equipment maintenance building, and additional refrigerated container storage capacity.
   Terminal 18 is leased and operated by SSA Terminals, a partnership of Stevedoring Services of America and Matson Navigation Co.