By George Lauriat, AJOTAlthough Maine’s ports have, like most in the United States,been hit by the recession, there also has been some very positive news.The Port of Portland, the State’s largest port, lost two container services, the Eimskip feeder ship and the Columbia Coastal Transport’s container barge service. Eimskip’s feedership service was halted due to general economic problems that beset Iceland while Columbia Coastal ceased service in June after a key supporter, Red Shield Environmental in Old Town, Maine, went out of business. The good news for Portland is that Columbia Coastal’s weekly container barge service is again going to call at the City’s public pier. The Red Shield business has been resurrected under a new name: Old Town Fuel and Fiber. The main export cargo is wood pulp but the service provides an all-water solution for Maine’s importers and exporters as the service connects with container operators in the Port New York/New Jersey. The container operations are located the Portland International Marine Terminal. According to sources, the City of Portland hopes eventually to shift the operations of the pier, through a lease of the facility, to the Maine Port Authority. It is expected that the deal will be done sometime this year. Another proposal on the table is a year round ferry service from Yarmouth Nova Scotia, to a New England port or ports. The proposal, sponsored by the Yarmouth Area Industrial Commission, would link a year round ferry service, catering to tourists in the summer and trucks year round. Currently, there is a high-speed Cat service, subsidized by Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia anteed up $5 million in 2008 and has agreed to cover $12 million in operating losses this year. SEARSPORT DEVELOPMENT GETS THE NOD TO GO AHEAD The development of a container terminal in Searsport has long been discussed in Maine. The project moved ahead this year when the state legislature agreed to set aside 330 acres on Sears Island in Penobscot Bay for a cargo and container port. The island, which is connected to the mainland by a man-made causeway, is owned by the state of Maine. Although the site has long been coveted because of its links and deepwater access, environmental concerns and the plans for conservation use have derailed the project. However, in 2007, a “Joint Use Planning Committee” recommended just over one third of the island’s total land area be developed for a port and the remaining two thirds be set aside under a conservation easement. The state is now looking for an investor to both develop, market and operate the future terminal. EASTPORT BRACES FOR DOWNTURN Last year, the Port of Eastport posted a record year of nearly 380,000 metric tons. The result wasn’t that unusual as Eastport has shown increases seven out of the last eight years. However the largest source of the port’s cargo Domtar Corp. announced that it was idling its pulp mill in Baileyville. The mill has an annual hardwood pulp production capacity of 398,000 metric tons, and most of what is produced is shipped out of Eastport for overseas markets. The port is already looking to replace it with other cargos. The port expects to handle its first shipment of windmill blades toward the end of April. The blades are destined for wind projects in Maine. Ultimately, the fate of many of the Maine’s secondary ports will lie with a proposed bond bill that could unify the State’s approach to ports. Perhaps the greatest challenge to Eastport is reconnecting the port to the rail service, a prospect that might improve with more State involvement. CIANBRO SHIPS FIRST REFINERY MODULES Although Maine’s export base has been hit by the recession, there have been some bright spots. Last week, Cianbro’s Eastern Manufacturing Facility, located in Brewer, Maine, shipped the first of four oil refinery modules by barge to the Motiva Refinery Expansion Project in Port Arthur, Texas. The modular units are the first four of 53 units that Cianbro’s Eastern Manufacturing Fa