Tacoma-Seattle merger talks move forward

Private talks are taking place between the management of the former rival ports of Tacoma and Seattle on the United States’ west coast which, last October, agreed to join forces in a Seaport Alliance to manage their cargo terminals.

The announcement last year brought to the end speculations as to the future of both the neighbouring ports, which earlier had proposed an information-sharing agreement to the US Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), yet, at the time, denied that there would be any change in governance.

According to reports in the local News Tribune, a series of confidential meetings are taking place to work out details of how to combine the operations and marketing of the two ports’ container terminals under one management.