Archives: News Entries

CRANE IMPROVEMENTS - Three contracts totaling $1.7 million were awarded yesterday to further improve the Port of Charleston's container crane infrastructure. At North Charleston Terminal, Foundation Specialist of Moncks Corner, SC will strengthen the supports under a 480-foot section of the waterside crane rail. At the Wando Welch Terminal, Proformance Group of Greenville, SC will construct electrical facilities for the four new super-post-panamax cranes ordered last year. Also related to the new cranes, D.M. Spears Construction of Goose Creek, SC will install storm tie-downs and service platforms.

CITY PUBLIC HEARING - The City of Charleston will hold a public hearing on the Ports Authority's proposed new terminal on Daniel Island in Charleston Harbor on Thursday, February 10, at 7 p.m. in Gaillard Auditorium. The SPA owns 1,300 acres for future terminal development and has requested permits to construct 12,000 feet of berthing space, a 660-acre container storage yard, road/rail access and other associated projects. Completion of the first phase is scheduled for 2005-2006.

SUPPORT GROUPS FORM - Two citizens' groups have formed in the last few days to support the new port facility on Daniel Island. "The Alliance for Port Progress" is an umbrella group representing various maritime and transportation organizations. A group of business and community leaders with no direct ties to the maritime community has formed "The Port Works for Everyone." Co-chairs represent various sectors of the economy, including finance, insurance, food service, tourism and construction.

HARBOR DEEPENING - Wednesday, the S.C. House Ways and Means Subcommittee approved a recommendation for $14 million to continue Charleston Harbor Deepening. The $159 million project will deepen the entrance channel from 42 to 47 feet, and the inner harbor channels from 40 to 45 feet. More than $100 million in projects have been awarded and the work is well underway, as construction began earlier last year.

YARD MANAGEMENT - To continue pilot testing and implementation of the new Yard Management System (YMS), the Ports Authority's Board approved a contract continuation with Communications Technology for Business. YMS is a real-time, radio frequency-based inventory management system that tracks containers as they move through the port link. The new work will
cover completion of the pilot phase and implementation.

RECORD YEAR FOR CONTAINERS - Port of Charleston container volume hit another all-time high in 1999. A total of 1.48 million 20-foot equivalent units moved across Charleston piers last year, up 16% from 1.27 million TEUs 1998.

BY THE NUMBERS

January 2000 vs. January 1999

Charleston Pier TEUs - 129,043 (up 21%)

Charleston Pier Breakbulk Tons - 27,302 (down 34%)

Georgetown Pier Tons - 88,618 (up 30%)

Port Royal Pier Tons - 11,352 (down 74%)

Vessel Calls - 172 (down 2%)

Greenville, SC - A lawsuit filed by operators of the gambling boat TROPIC SEA against the State Ports Authority has been dismissed.

Norman D. Kline, administrative law judge for the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), dismissed the suit against the State Ports Authority, citing lack of jurisdiction and a local ordinance that bans gambling boats.

In its motion to dismiss, The Ports Authority argued that the TROPIC SEA is not a cruise ship at all, but is classified as a ferry, cannot provide accommodations for all its passengers and has, as her primary purpose, gambling.

The Ports Authority has policy of not providing docking space to vessels whose primary purpose is gambling. The City of Charleston ordinance features similar language in banning the vessels.

In seeking dismissal, the Ports Authority argued that it is immune from suits by private parties in federal courts or before the FMC. The 11th Amendment to the Constitution provides States immunity from private suits in federal forums. In a previous unrelated case, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Ports Authority was an arm of the State of South Carolina.

The Ports Authority also cited the Johnson Act as evidence that Congress has reserved the matter of regulating gambling ships to the States. "The proper forum for the interpretation of South Carolina law in areas expressly reserved to the states is in a South Carolina state court," the Ports Authority said in its motion to dismiss.

South Carolina Maritime Services, the reported operator of the gambling boat TROPIC SEA anchored in Charleston Harbor, alleged that the Ports Authority discriminated against its vessel while allowing other cruise ships with gambling devices to dock. The TROPIC SEA's operators sought a cease and desist order plus money damages.

Judge Kline said in the decision that he could "find no reason to defer ruling on SCSPA's Motion" to dismiss and that the "complaint is dismissed on the basis of SCSPA's entitlement to immunity from private suits under the 11th Amendment to the Constitution and its related doctrine of State sovereign immunity from private suits."