By Leo Quigley, AJOTThe Port of Grays Harbor, Washington, came off a record-breaking year last year and according to Leonard Barnes, Deputy Executive Director, is headed into an even better year this year. A large part of the increase in traffic has been due to the startup of North America’s largest biodiesel plant that went on line last year and Ag Processing Inc. that moved an increased amount of agricultural products in 2007 and also added dried distillers grain its list of bulk products handled.
As well as DDGs the company loads commodities such as soy meal, soybeans, corn gluten and beet pellets onto ocean-going vessels, most of which arrive at the terminal as identity preserved cargo in sealed grain cars. The 100 million gallon Imperium Grays Harbor biodiesel plant, which ships both biofuels and dried distiller’s grain, was instrumental in boosting bulk shipments at the port to 438,728 tonnes last year with 37 vessel calls in total. “Imperium has been a huge boost not only to our port, but in the number of jobs they’ve brought in for construction and the number of permanent jobs after that,” Barnes said. However, even though last year was huge, this year he said scheduled vessel calls for the first quarter are projected to hit 13 compared to only four for the same period last year. “Shipping is really up in the first quarter,” he said. “And, there’s a lot of interest in our marine terminals. We have a lot of capacity right now to grow, we have a strong infrastructure with good deepwater terminals and a lot of upland property,” he said. However, Barnes told AJOT one of biggest reasons Grays Harbor is experiencing a business boom is due largely to its first class road and rail transportation systems, ample space for growth and a location that is only two miles from the ocean. “Our rail (BNSF, Union Pacific and Puget Sound-Pacific Railroad) is a big asset,” he said. “We get tremendous service here.” This, together with excellent highway connections and the fact that Grays Harbor is a deepwater, uncongested port with ample dock space is becoming known to shippers of bulk and break-bulk products. As well, has gained a reputation for handling special project cargoes such as rocket motors to Japan, gas turbines and project steel destined for Seattle and several large construction projects on port property are expected to help grow last years’ excellent results. Among these is the construction of an Ocean Cold fish processing and cold storage facility at Firecracker Point that Barnes said will be a $7 million, 92,000 square-foot facility, expected to open July 1 of this year. The plant will be located next to Westport Marina a 500-foot wharf that serves the fishing fleet as well as charter and pleasure boats. In addition to bulk and breakbulk cargo the port is also gaining attention for its capacity to handle ro-ro traffic and Barnes said port administration is closely watching developments in Short Sea Shipping logistics that would take some of the truck traffic off congested West Coast highways. In this regard, Grays Harbor is also about to become the source of a major solution to Puget Sound’s transportation problems. Recently, State Governor Chris Gregoire, announced that a port-owned site in Hoquiam, WA, would soon become the location for construction of massive pontoons that will be part of a major bridge replacement project. Barnes said the port does not know as yet whether the steel used in building the structures, which are as long as a football field, will be shipped through the port, and is awaiting a decision by the State.