SC Ports Authority reports record earnings

Despite a 10 percent drop in container volume, the State Ports Authority’s bread and butter, the agency still reported record revenue and earnings for its recently ended fiscal year.

Because of those numbers, officials announced that the SPA would not need any additional taxpayer funding for two projects: a harbor widening completed in 2004 and an access road needed for the new terminal under construction at the former Navy base in North Charleston. How to pay for those two projects had been an open question until Thursday’s announcement.

The SPA said its operating revenue for fiscal 2008, which ended June 30, grew 7.6 percent to $165 million, while earnings grew 9.7 percent to $54.7 million. Operating expenses rose 6.6 percent to $110 million, according to port officials.

SPA board chairman David Posek said in a news release that “from a financial standpoint, South Carolina’s public port system is very healthy.

“These strong numbers allow us to cover the costs of current operations along with the new container terminal in North Charleston,” he said in the release. “That is good news for both our customers and the people of South Carolina.”

The Charleston Harbor Deepening and Widening Project will require an additional $7.9 million in state funds, for which the SPA now plans to foot the bill.

More than $182.5 million in state and federal funds, plus about $7 million in interest, has been allocated to the access road that will connect Interstate 26 to the new terminal under construction. But at a recent Charleston legislative delegation subcommittee meeting, State Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell wondered if that would be enough.

SPA President and CEO Bernard Groseclose Jr. felt confident it would, but a state Deparment of Transportation representative wasn’t so sure. On Thursday SPA officials said they could pick up any remaining tab on that project as well.

The number of cruise ship passengers climbed 35 percent in Charleston in fiscal year 2008.

But after October 2009, the ship that brings in nearly three-quarters of the port’s cruise calls, the Norwegian Majesty, will no longer call here as it becomes part of another company’s fleet.

Break-bulk cargo volume grew 23 percent. But cruises and break-bulk combined account for only about 10 percent of port traffic. And container volume, which accounts for the remaining 90 percent, fell 10 percent.

After receiving word of the port’s accomplishments, House Majority Leader and ports subcommittee Chairman Jim Merrill cautioned that those numbers don’t reflect what is an underlying problem.

“I’m glad the port has positive news. However, I hope we’re not just putting a bit of whitewash on deeper concerns,” Merrill said.

“With inflation rising, there will be an increase in revenue, but eventually it’s going to catch up with us if the ports we’ve competed against are increasing their container volume.”

Savannah, the Port of Charleston’s historical rival, announced that it handled nearly 15 percent more containers in its latest fiscal year, setting a record, at the same time Charleston’s cargo volume dropped.

Posek blamed the drop here on market conditions. And Groseclose, while addressing the legislative delegation, attributed the loss to Charleston’s lack of a network of distribution centers. Such a network has contributed to Savannah’s success.

Savannah moved the equivalent of more than 2.6 million 20-foot-long containers last year, while Charleston moved fewer than 1.7 million.