By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTLike ports elsewhere around the country, the recession has hit the Port of Virginia hard. But its big story is not anchored in today’s trade volumes, but what the future holds for this significant east coast seaport. Much of that future centers on the Heartland Corridor, the intermodal Norfolk Southern (NS) rail link that will connect the Port of Virginia with key container transfer points in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, IL; the development of the Craney Island Marine Terminal and a thickening battle between private operators and Virginia Port Authority (VPA) to control terminal operations. HEARTLAND CORRIDOR At its immediate future is the impact of the Heartland Corridor project. “We have completely renovated NIT, our largest terminal,” reports Joe Harris, VPA spokesman. “We have also finished the first phase of renovating our on-dock rail. The second phase should start this fall. With that completed, we will link via rail with the Heartland Corridor by mid-year, next year.” By adding 12, 1,500 foot rail tracks, the relocated and expanded centralized rail yard will triple on-dock rail capacity to 600,000 lifts. The rail connection via the Heartland Corridor, a joint venture between NS and the Federal Highway Administration to allow trains to stack intermodal cargo containers for increased capacity, means cargos can access Columbus, Ohio in one day and Chicago in one day and one-half. VPA officials especially see this as a boon for Asian cargo transiting the Panama Canal to the Port of Virginia. Asia is already the port’s strongest trade lane. “Rail is the strongest areas of business and growth for us,” Harris says. “We think the Heartland Corridor is going to enhance that even more. As the ice thaws with the economy, people are beginning to lot look around more. The fact is we have the entire infrastructure in place.” VPA officials are highly bullish on future. While it is difficult for them to establish what volumes will result from the opening of the Heartland Corridor, VPA executives already know a lot of customers will use it. “Double stack direct will be a big boon for us,” Harris says. “Plus, don’t underestimate CSX’s talk about the National Gateway.” VPA officials hope this series of double stack rail connections will come to fruition since it, too, would Virginia ports yet another asset to build upon. “As we look to contain congestion and reduce fuel use, rail is the way to go,” Harris says. READY AND WAITING VPA is ready well positioned with six Suez-class cranes already in operation at NIT. “We are currently not receiving vessels that maximize the use of those cranes,” Harris comments. “But we are confident that someday we will. We have Suez class cranes on 50 foot water. We know that Panamax cranes will only be capable of servicing steamship lines effectively for just so long.” PARTNERSHIP POTENTIAL Perhaps to be deemed a rubber stamp of approval for how desirable and profitable the Port of Virginia can be, VPA has gained attention lately because of unsolicited bids to privatize part of its operations. In March CenterPoint Properties Trust of Oak Brook, IL, proposed a strategic partnership with the Commonwealth of Virginia to enter into a 60-year lease of all port properties. The proposal includes an upfront payment of $500 million. Under the proposed strategic partnership, CenterPoint would provide $8.9-billion in total value to the Commonwealth of Virginia over the life of the concession, or $3.5-billion in today’s dollars. According to the CenterPoint website, this capital would include funds to modernize the port and provide both up-front and ongoing fixed payments to the Commonwealth. Profit sharing would allow the Commonwealth to benefit in the future from the growth in port business. The dollars CenterPoint would pay Virginia, and the foregone subsidy, could be used for off-port rail and road infrastructure to ease area congestion or for other pressi