NYK drops Tacoma terminal plan
A sharp drop in trans-Pacific container volumes this year caused NYK Line to drop plans to lease a proposed 168-acre container terminal at the Port of Tacoma.
NYK Line still plans to leave the Port of Seattle in 2012, but the carrier now intends to call at a facility operated by APM Terminals in Tacoma.
Tacoma on Thursday announced three agreements that will make this series of events take place. First, NYK agreed that its independently-operated vessels serving the Pacific Northwest will call at the 135-acre APM facility for 25 years beginning in 2012.
NYK and Yusen Terminals Tacoma, the marine terminal operating arm of NYK, and APM Terminals signed an agreement acknowledging the new business arrangement. Finally, the Port of Tacoma signed a "lease termination and surrender agreement" acknowledging that it is dropping plans to build the proposed 168-acre terminal on the Blair waterway for NYK Line.
The 15 to 20 percent drop in trans-Pacific container volumes this year, and prospects for a slow return to growth, gave pause to both NYK and the Port of Tacoma to commit significant land and money to an exclusive-use terminal for the Japanese carrier.
APM Terminals likewise took a hit earlier this year when its main tenant, Maersk Line, dropped two independent services to Tacoma. Maersk shifted a service from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest, but Maersk operates that service jointly with CMA CGM.
NYK's eventual move to Tacoma will give the port a boost nevertheless. Last year it moved 132,000 20-foot equivalent units through Seattle.
Tacoma intends to develop the Blair Waterway site as a multi-use terminal.
NYK Line still plans to leave the Port of Seattle in 2012, but the carrier now intends to call at a facility operated by APM Terminals in Tacoma.
Tacoma on Thursday announced three agreements that will make this series of events take place. First, NYK agreed that its independently-operated vessels serving the Pacific Northwest will call at the 135-acre APM facility for 25 years beginning in 2012.
NYK and Yusen Terminals Tacoma, the marine terminal operating arm of NYK, and APM Terminals signed an agreement acknowledging the new business arrangement. Finally, the Port of Tacoma signed a "lease termination and surrender agreement" acknowledging that it is dropping plans to build the proposed 168-acre terminal on the Blair waterway for NYK Line.
The 15 to 20 percent drop in trans-Pacific container volumes this year, and prospects for a slow return to growth, gave pause to both NYK and the Port of Tacoma to commit significant land and money to an exclusive-use terminal for the Japanese carrier.
APM Terminals likewise took a hit earlier this year when its main tenant, Maersk Line, dropped two independent services to Tacoma. Maersk shifted a service from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest, but Maersk operates that service jointly with CMA CGM.
NYK's eventual move to Tacoma will give the port a boost nevertheless. Last year it moved 132,000 20-foot equivalent units through Seattle.
Tacoma intends to develop the Blair Waterway site as a multi-use terminal.