In a welcome turn of events for the beleaguered Port of Charleston, Mediterranean Shipping Co. signed a new agreement with the South Carolina State Ports Authority that will keep it in the port through 2017.
The five-year extension of the carrier’s contract to use the port comes as Maersk Line begins considering a final offer to keep some of its business in the port that was approved by the SCSPA’s board in a teleconference Monday.
Maersk Line announced in December that it would pull all of its services out of the port by the end of 2010, and the SCSPA has been negotiating with the Danish carrier ever since to keep some of its business. It has already moved two of its services out of the port that accounted for three calls per week.
The signing last week of the five-year extension in MSC’s agreement with the SCSPA, which was announced today, solidifies the carrier’s place as one of the port’s largest customers and one that supports hundreds of high-paying jobs across the Charleston maritime community.
“This signals MSC’s confidence in Charleston’s ability to handle their needs now and well into the future,” said Fred Stribling, the SCSPA’s vice president of marketing and sales. “We enjoy a strong, productive relationship with MSC, and we anticipate a growing MSC presence in the Port of Charleston.”
Charleston, which has the deepest water on the South Atlantic coast, routinely handles MSC vessels with drafts of up to 47 feet and capacity of 6,700 TEUs. The first phase of a new, 280-acre container terminal in he North Charleston Navy yard is slated to open in 2014.
Over the past decade, MSC has expanded rapidly into the Charleston shipping scene. The company’s existing presence in the port includes services to the west Mediterranean, South America, Caribbean, Africa and Europe. MSC’s Charleston business totals well over 200 vessel calls annually, which support hundreds of local jobs for those working on the waterfront, including truckers, brokers, longshoremen and others.
In March, MSC dedicated its new, 45,000-square-foot South Atlantic headquarters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
The SCSPA said the carrier directly employs about 225 professionals in Charleston and has the potential to grow that figure in the future.
The five-year extension of the carrier’s contract to use the port comes as Maersk Line begins considering a final offer to keep some of its business in the port that was approved by the SCSPA’s board in a teleconference Monday.
Maersk Line announced in December that it would pull all of its services out of the port by the end of 2010, and the SCSPA has been negotiating with the Danish carrier ever since to keep some of its business. It has already moved two of its services out of the port that accounted for three calls per week.
The signing last week of the five-year extension in MSC’s agreement with the SCSPA, which was announced today, solidifies the carrier’s place as one of the port’s largest customers and one that supports hundreds of high-paying jobs across the Charleston maritime community.
“This signals MSC’s confidence in Charleston’s ability to handle their needs now and well into the future,” said Fred Stribling, the SCSPA’s vice president of marketing and sales. “We enjoy a strong, productive relationship with MSC, and we anticipate a growing MSC presence in the Port of Charleston.”
Charleston, which has the deepest water on the South Atlantic coast, routinely handles MSC vessels with drafts of up to 47 feet and capacity of 6,700 TEUs. The first phase of a new, 280-acre container terminal in he North Charleston Navy yard is slated to open in 2014.
Over the past decade, MSC has expanded rapidly into the Charleston shipping scene. The company’s existing presence in the port includes services to the west Mediterranean, South America, Caribbean, Africa and Europe. MSC’s Charleston business totals well over 200 vessel calls annually, which support hundreds of local jobs for those working on the waterfront, including truckers, brokers, longshoremen and others.
In March, MSC dedicated its new, 45,000-square-foot South Atlantic headquarters in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
The SCSPA said the carrier directly employs about 225 professionals in Charleston and has the potential to grow that figure in the future.