The port of Charleston closed 2010 with a nearly 17 percent increase in container volume, capping a year marked by new shipping services, statewide business initiatives and the arrival of the biggest ships on the US East Coast.

A further growth is expected for 2011, reported Lloyd Special Report.

December marked the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year growth for the South Carolina State Ports Authority (SCSPA), which owns and operates public seaport facilities in Charleston and Georgetown.

Charleston's container volume in December totalled 62,405 pier containers, up 9.7 percent from the same month in 2009.

Breakbulk tonnage at the ports of Charleston and Georgetown was up 27 percent for the calendar year, with 876,852 pier tonnes handled at the two ports in 2010. Non-containerised cargo was up 36.5 percent for the first six months of 2010.

The SCSPA welcomed several new shipping services during 2010, including MSC's Golden Gate Service, CSAV's AMEX service, Höegh Autoliners' Middle East service a new breakbulk service with Liberty Global Logistics.

In December, the SCSPA welcomed its 300th post-Panamax ship to Charleston and handled 35 calls of ships of 8,000-TEU capacity or greater. Approximately 80 percent of the container ships on order are post-Panamax and, by end 2013, 50 percent of the capacity in operation will be post-Panamax, according to published reports.

"This underscores the need for deepwater harbours such as Charleston ahead of the opening of the expanded Panama Canal locks in 2014," said Newsome.

In addition to a new terminal operating system that will be implemented in the coming months, the SCSPA is streamlining its container operations by moving to a single-gate operating system effective soon.

The changes will result in extended gate hours and access to the SCSPA's information systems for all port customers, all while boosting capacity by about 10 percent.

Cargonews Asia