The historic transformation of Brayton Point reached another milestone last week with the first cargo shipment into the site’s newly redeveloped marine commerce terminal. This represents the first shipment into Brayton Point since its historic use as the largest coal-fired power plant in New England.
Once used to import coal, the marine terminal at Brayton Point Commerce Center is being repurposed to handle bulk cargo, heavy lift cargoes, and building materials for multiple sectors, including offshore wind. The first cargo shipment took place on September 25, 2019 and contained 30,000 MTs of de-icing salt, imported from the Atacama Desert region of Chile. This was the first international vessel call under the new developer Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC), following the acquisition of the 306 acre site in January 2018.
“We are happy to announce that the marine commerce terminal at Brayton Point has been restored and is now open for business. Port operations will continue through the remainder of 2019 and we expect capacity to gradually increase until mid-2020,” said Stephen Collins Executive Vice President of CDC.
In June 2019, CDC announced a port operations and lease agreement with Patriot Stevedoring + Logistics LLC (Patriot). The agreement builds upon CDC’s broad vision to transform the former coal-fired power plant site into a world-class manufacturing and logistics port.
Patriot is currently managing operations at the marine terminal and working with CDC to establish the site as a regional logistics port with global distribution capabilities. Brayton Point is equipped with a deep water port capable of berthing domestic and international merchant vessels. Today the port is capable of accommodating project vessels and dry bulk carriers up to 64,000 DWT ultramax bulkers.
“Along with CDC, the partners of Patriot Stevedoring worked very hard to secure our first customer across the wharf. The dedicated client has given us the opportunity to work with them to better serve their customers in the New England Market. This is a great start for Patriot and bringing in long term clients that will help us build the Brayton Point Commerce Center,” said Steve Kelly, Vice President at Patriot Stevedoring.
Patriot Stevedoring + Logistics LLC represents a joint venture between Carver Stevedoring Services, Inc. and Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. (Nasdaq: PANL) for the purposes of managing the port operations at Brayton Point Terminal. Carver’s port operations and maritime experience includes the owning and / or operating of several deepwater ports along the eastern seaboard with activities in Coeymans / Albany, New York; Port Manatee, Florida; and Charleston, South Carolina. Pangaea Logistics Solutions Ltd. maintains an international ocean freight network of shippers and receivers many of which are interested in utilizing the Brayton Point Commerce Center.
US Offshore Wind Sector
Considering the site’s close proximity to offshore wind energy tracts in the Atlantic Ocean (37 nautical miles), the marine commerce terminal at Brayton Point is uniquely suited to serve the offshore wind energy sector. Although offshore wind in Massachusetts won’t go online until 2023, the Brayton Point Commerce Center will be operations-ready well in advance – able to begin heavy lift port operations by early 2020.
