Port of Stockton selects SSA Marine as terminal operator for its M-580 Marine Highway Containers-on-Barge Service

The Port of Stockton, Calif., has selected SSA Marine to manage the port's terminal for the new M-580 Marine Highway Corridor service between the ports of Stockton and Oakland. The M-580 Marine Highway is scheduled to commence in early spring 2013.

The Port of Stockton and SSA Marine have entered into an agreement in which SSA Marine will provide container-on-barge terminal services, including terminal management, marketing and logistical support. The Port will provide management oversight as the prime contractor, including barge and towboat operations..

In February 2010, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the award of a $30 million TIGER grant for the ports of Oakland, Stockton and West Sacramento to develop the infrastructure necessary to establish a container-on-barge service between the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. The Port of Stockton received $13 million of the grant to support its purchase of two 140-ton mobile harbor cranes and to make the necessary improvements at the Port to support the project. The Port also purchased two dedicated barges, which were modified with cell guides to handle containers. "We are very pleased to have selected SSA Marine to provide marine terminal management services for our Marine Highway program," said Port of Stockton Port Director Richard Aschieris."SSA Marine has extensive national and international terminal operating experience."

The M-580 Marine Highway will offer an environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient and cost-competitive long-term logistics solution to transport containers between the ports of Oakland and Stockton. It will help to reduce congestion along the I-580/I-5 corridors. Studies have estimated that approximately 1,600 containers per day move between the two ports, causing I-580 to be one of the most congested highways in the state. Additionally, the M-580 will serve as an overweight corridor, offering cost savings to exporters by allowing them to load containers to full capacity, reducing the number of containers required.