Today’s commentary is directed to shipowners serving the West Coast. “We feel your pain”, is what you’ve been hearing nowadays, and because no relief of any kind is in sight, nothing but sympathy has been available … until now, that is. This website, and the company sponsoring this website, has been asked to locate one or more shipping lines interested in bringing containers from Asia to a more efficient and less costly U.S. West Coast port. Discussions have been held with port authorities at Grays Harbor, on the coast of Washington, and a program has been arranged whereby our systems will be installed at that site. Three of our systems, with an approximate annual capacity of 2,000,000 TEU, are in the initial planning stages, and one of the world’s largest real estate developers has shown an interest in developing the adjacent 400 to 500 acres at the port.

Until recently the Port of Grays Harbor was dedicated to the logging industry, but little activity is seen at its 2,000 feet of berthing space today. Both UP and BNSF provide service to the terminals with direct rail connections to destinations throughout North America. Here’s what the port’s attractive literature states:

• Deep-water shipping terminals only one and a half hours from open ocean.
• Direct rail connections to destinations throughout North America.
• Only four lane highway to the coast north of San Francisco.
• Transportation routes that by-pass heavy congestion areas.
• Telecommunication system with excess capacity and redundancy.
• Large and small industrial and commercial parcels available for development.
• Reasonably priced commercial and industrial land.
• Regional jet capable airport with full ILS.
• Foreign Trade Zone designation.
• Low cost natural gas, industrial water and power.

The literature also describes the Coastal Super Corridor as, “ the fastest route from the West Coast to your market. Located in the innovative Pacific Northwest, Grays Harbor County and the Coastal Super Corridor is the West Coast’s newest hub for business development and international trade. Positioned centrally between the markets of Seattle and Portland, the Coastal Super Corridor provides road, rail, telecommunications and marine transportation routes to deliver your products to market without facing the everyday congestion of the urban areas.”

The Marine Terminals are further described as being the closest U.S. multi-modal port to the Pacific Rim, with a channel depth of -36 feet MLLW from Port docks to open sea, and a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone (#173) covering 587 acres of land and buildings.

Mr. Leonard Barnes is the Director of Trade and Development and can be reached at (360)533-9515.
Arrange a meeting with him and Gary Nelson, the Executive Director. They’d love to hear from you.
Or you could hit the [CONTACT US] button on this website if you like.