By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTNew England port terminals are grabbing a share of the growing used vehicle export trade to West Africa with pure car carrier sailings from the ports of Boston and Providence, RI. “It’s a boon, at least for the time being, for the maritime industry in New England,” said E. Walter Egee, vice president of Ports America New England, which has operations at Boston and Providence, as well as Portland, Maine, and Davisville, RI. “It’s not all that often in New England that we get something new of this nature.” Traditionally, used cars shipped overseas from the US Northeast have moved through ports farther to the south, such as Wilmington, DE. But the exporters of this latest wave of vehicles apparently are realizing inland transportation cost savings for units bought at New England auctions by shipping them from marine terminals closer to the point of purchase, according to John O’Donnell, vice president and general manager of Diversified Automotive Inc. Diversified Automotive, co-lessor of the Massachusetts Port Authority’s Boston Autoport in Charlestown, already has seen a total of more than 1,600 Africa-bound vehicles roll onto three pure car carrier sailings to West Africa over the past three months, O’Donnell said. Diversified Automotive’s longtime primary activity has been handling imports of Japanese-made Subaru vehicles. “This has added business in the functionality of the port,” said O’Donnell, who noted that longshoremen, agents, clerks and Customs and Border Protection employees are among those getting additional work. Ports America New England’s Egee, whose firm supplies the labor at the Boston Autoport, said a 30-man gang recently worked two eight-hour days loading one ship, equating to some 500 man-hours of labor for that sailing alone. “The ILA [International Longshoremen’s Association] is really being cooperative on this thing,” Egee said. “They have made concessions at both ports – Boston and Providence.” The first sailing from Providence is slated for the first week of November, according to Jay Baird, marketing director of Waterson Terminal Services (WTS), which is responsible for all terminal operations, lease administration and stevedoring within the privately owned Providence port (ProvPort). Similar to the case with the Boston voyages, the pure car carriers are to call at Jacksonville, FL, and then Wilmington, DE, before picking up their final load of export vehicles at Providence, according to Baird. In both cases, the West Africa calls are at Cotoneau, the largest city in the Republic of Benin (formerly known as Dahomey), and at Lomé, the capital of the Togolese Republic, or Togo. Benin and Togo, with a combined population of 14.5 million, are located on the south side of the West African coast, between Ghana and Nigeria. The Boston service is being operated by European Red Sea American Line (ERSAL), while the Providence service is being operated by Lebanon-based Abou Merhi Line. Roll-on/roll-off vessels deployed in the services include the M/V Sunbelt Dixie, a pure car carrier built in 1978. Unlike containerized export vehicles, which in many cases are inoperable, the vast majority of units involved in this roll-on/roll-off trade are in good operating condition. Egee said that each one has a valid title and has been cleared through Customs prior to loading. Baird said Waterson began receiving vehicles in mid-October at a 10-acre paved area adjacent to ProvPort Berth 6, to be used as a staging area for the Africa-bound units. Egee said it is expected that additional units will be loaded by Ports America stevedores directly onto outbound vessels from auto-transport trucks. “We’re looking at 1,000 to 1,500 autos on a monthly basis,” Baird said. “It allows WTS to diversify from our traditional cargo mix of bulk, breakbulk and project cargoes, so we’re very excited to be expanding into automotive exports.” At Providence, WTS handles more than 100 vessels and barges a year, moving some 2.5 million tons of ca