Taiwan-based global carrier Evergreen Marine Corporation and the Port of Tacoma today announced an agreement to relocate operations from Terminal 4 to Pierce County Terminal.
Scheduled for completion in late 2004, the new terminal will be the largest single container terminal north of Los Angeles and the largest construction project in the ports 85-year history.
Clearly, the future of the Port of Tacoma is on the Blair Waterway, said Dick Marzano, Port of Tacoma Commission President. With this agreement, Evergreen has made it clear that they will be a major part of that future. This is an agreement that will bring significant economic development and much-needed jobs to South Puget Sound.
According to Brendan Dugan, the ports senior director of marketing and trade, the 171-acre Phase 1 terminal will have an annual capacity of more than 480,000 container lifts – or approximately 840,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). When Phase 2 is complete, the facility will be 237 acres total with an annual capacity of approximately 1.2 million TEUs. The Port of Tacoma finished 2002 with a record volume of 1.44 million TEUs.
Located at the terminus of the 2.65-mile-long Blair Waterway, the planned six-crane, facility will feature two linear berths (approximately 2,260 feet long), a container yard, a dedicated intermodal yard and associated infrastructure. If required, there is flexibility for a third berth at a later date.
Evergreen currently occupies a 75-acre facility at Terminal 4, also on the waterway. Pierce County Terminal is presently used for breakbulk, auto, heavy lift and other specialty cargoes. Much of the Pierce County Terminal acreage is now used for auto storage. This activity will be relocated to a new dedicated auto facility, now under construction near Pierce County Terminal.
In December of 2002, the Port of Tacoma Commission approved a sweeping $341 million Capital Improvement Plan that includes widening of the Blair Waterway at two key locations and re-developing Pierce County Terminal into a major container terminal.
Designed for straddle carrier operation in the container and intermodal yard, the terminal will be developed in two phases. Phase 1 will be a 140-acre terminal plus approximately 31 acres for rail operations (171 acres total). Phase 2 will add approximately 53 acres of additional terminal space and approximately 13 acres of additional rail operations, bringing the total terminal size to 237 acres.
