Work underway on new Charleston terminal

The 280-acre terminal will be built in phases over the coming 20 years and, when completed, will be able to accommodate three additional ships along its 3,510 ft dock, increasing the port’s capacity by about 50%. The first, US$500m phase is expected to open within six years, adding capacity of 1.4m teu.

The SCSPA spent four years and US$5.3m in a rigorous permit process involving numerous regulatory and resource agencies, culminating in the issue of state and federal environmental permits. Its commitments include nearly US$10m in environmental and community mitigation measures, including US$2.5m to recreate 22 acres of tidal marsh, restore more than five miles of oyster reefs and purchase mitigation bank credits.

Another US$4m will be provided for community programming to fund education and job training programmes and other projects. In late March, the SCSPA signed a memorandum of agreement to reduce air impacts from its marine terminals. It committed to fund a particulate matter monitoring station, purchase cleaner equipment for the navy base site and buy cleaner engines when replacing equipment.