By Leo Quigley, AJOTCOOS BAY, OREGON The Port of Coos Bay, Oregon, that has been without railway service for roughly 1 ½ years, is now getting into the railroad business and, in addition, is seriously looking at building the port’s first container terminal The port’s railroad problems began in late September 2007 when the only railroad, the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, shut down operations with only two days notice, citing problems with three tunnels on the line that travels 120 miles between Eugene, Oregon, and the port. The closure left industries at the Port of Coos Bay stranded and they were forced to turn to more expensive trucking. Faced with increased operating expenses some companies laid off employees and made it clear that they could shut down local operations completely and move to another city with rail service. However, with the help of the Oregon Economic and Community Development Commission the port was able to announce February 5 of this year that $12.6 million in loans had been arranged which, together with a contribution of $4 in ConnectOregon financing, made it possible for the port to purchase the rail line. Martin Callery, Director of Communications and Freight Mobility with the port, told AJOT that while the port now owns a railroad, it must still negotiate operating agreements with Union Pacific Railroad on portion of the line that it still owns and find a reliable, well financed, railroad company to operate the line. As well, funds will have to be found to bring the problem tunnels on the line. Other developments for the port include a $500 million LNG terminal to be built by Jordan Cove Energy that is now in the licensing process a plan that could see the launching of the port’s first container terminal.
PORT OF PORTLAND, OREGON The loss of “K” Line in recent weeks after less than two years of operation; dealt a blow to Oregon’s largest river port, coming on top of a dismal last half of 2008 and the first two months of 2009. “Portland has not been shielded from the global malaise that you read about every time you open a paper these days,” said Josh Thomas, Marine and Industrial Development Media Relations Manager for the port. Auto imports were down 39%, potash and soda ash were down 16% at the end of January, containers were down 27.8% and most other market segments followed the downtrend. However, according to Thomas, the good news at the port has been in industrial development. In the new Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park the first tenant, FedEx Ground, is in the process of building a new $100 million distribution hub that is expected to go into operation next year. PORT OF VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON The Port of Vancouver, USA, has spent several years working to position itself as a niche port equipped to handle awkward equipment such as windmills and special project shipments. It proved be a decision that was reinforced earlier this year when the port’s Executive Director, Larry Paulson, announced that a first-time agreement had been reached with Siemens Energy to handle their windmill components and that the port’s existing contract with Vestas Wind Systems had received a three-year extension.“ Nelson Holmberg, the port’s Communications Manager, told AJOT that vessel counts have been down for the first part of this year however with the growth in the wind energy equipment sector 2009 is projected to be a “really strong year.” Holmberg said a new mobile harbor crane is scheduled to arrive at the port this month to handle the increased volumes. He also said that with the arrival of a second crane “people are starting to notice the Port of Vancouver, USA, in terms of project cargo” and port management expects that this sector will show a healthy increase this year. PORT OF EVERETT, WASHINGTON The Port of Everett is emerging as a multipurpose general ca