Portland seeks to qualify terminal bidders

Portland seeks to qualify terminal bidders The Port of Portland on Monday took the next step towards leasing out its Terminal 6 container facility to a private sector bidder by issuing a request for qualification.
   The port authority in December voted to privatize the container terminal and hired Morgan Stanley as its financial advisor to handle the bid process. The port currently operates the terminal itself.
   Officials have indicated they are leaning towards a long-term concession model with a large upfront payment by the winning bidder, but did not rule out a more traditional rental agreement to operate the facility.
   However, the document released Monday is called a “Request for Concessionaire Qualifications.” It describes the project in more detail to let potential bidders determine if they wish to compete and begins the pre-qualification process.
   Portland, located inland on the Columbia River, saw its container volumes increase 21 percent for inbound and outbound traffic to 260,128 TEUs in 2007. Berth capacity is listed at 700,000 TEUs. The port is small by container standards, but officials believe shippers and carriers are interested in moving some freight to less congested ports of entry.
   The port is offering investors the potential to expand capacity to 2 million TEUs.
   Portland has rail service within 1,500 feet of the wharf connecting to the BNSF and Union Pacific lines and is served by container lines Yang Ming and Hanjin on the transpacific trade and Hapag-Lloyd with a weekly service to Europe via the Panama Canal. The Columbia River deepening project is expected to be completed by 2010, resulting in a 43-foot navigation channel.
   The deadline for responding to the RFQ is March 31. ' Eric Kulisch