According to reports, one of the alibis heard in the annual State of the Port address given by the top official of the South Carolina State Port Authority, was as follows;

“While there are many positives that we can and must share with our constituents, it is important to realize that the years of delay over port expansion have taken a toll on our mighty port,” the gentleman said.

“Our opponents said I was exaggerating,” he continued. “Well, we’re now certainly seeing the impact of the delay in expansion.”

Admitting that the Port of Charleston is failing when compared to the neighboring Port of Savannah must have been an embarrassment to him and his “constituents”. Had he kept those constituents properly informed over the past seven years, however, there would have been no need for him to eat crow at this time. The “delay”? He has only himself to blame for that.

“Seven years”? Yes, that’s when we introduced our patented storage and retrieval system to Mr. Groseclose. We offered our assistance to him and the port as far back as the year 2000, but we’ve yet to get a response. He knew back then that retrofitting our system in just one of the port’s locations would have provided all the advantages he’d ever need to assure the port’s growth.

• He could have chosen the 78-acre Columbus Street Terminal. That’s more acreage than he would have needed to accommodate some 3,000,000 TEUs annually. The other terminals could have been shut down and returned to the community for other more attractive and profitable uses.
• Or he could have chosen the 194-acre Wando Welch Terminal. That’s more acreage than would be needed to accommodate about 7,000,000 TEUs annually, and that amount of TEUs space is more than the infrastructure could ever handle comfortably. The communities could have absorbed all the acreage now being wasted on the other terminals.
• Or he could have chosen the 123-acre North Charleston Terminal. Our patented system could store, retrieve and deliver more than 4,000,000 TEUs annually at that location.

Instead, a lot of time, money and effort have been wasted in attempts to gobble up more space in communities abutting what was at one time one of the world’s most beautiful harbors. Daniel Island comes to mind, and now the former Charleston naval base is being swallowed up.

Mr. Groseclose uses the word “expansion”. Expansion, he’s convinced, will assure growth. We beg to differ. We use the word “space”, because operating space is what assures growth..

Our system is designed to create space and to operate on just one-tenth the acreage that conventionally-structured terminals require. This web site tells the whole story. But then again, maybe there’s a good reason why the Port Authority would rather fight than switch.