Philadelphia Regional Port Authority sees bright future for global fruit trade
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority sees bright future for global fruit trade
PHILADELPHIA — For many reasons, the seaports of the Delaware River are flourishing in international produce trade, according to Dominic O’Brien, the senior marketing representative of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.
“Fruit numbers are doing well in the Delaware River (in general) and in Philadelphia,” where seaports are administered by the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.
New ocean cargo services are calling on the Delaware. A deepening of the Delaware River channel will be completed by 2017, allowing the world’s largest container ships access to the ports. And, to accommodate such ships in the future, Pennsylvania and its representative agency, the PRPA, are moving ahead in the development of the long-discussed Southport container facility. “No other port in the Northeastern U.S. has the room to grow” with a massive port facility like Southport, O’Brien noted.
The consulting group Ernst & Young has 15 companies that have responded to a request for expression of interest in developing the Southport terminal. O’Brien said a great deal of research is being applied to choosing the best economic investment to maximize Southport.
The Packer Avenue Marine Terminal is the largest fruit port owned by the PRPA, according to O’Brien. PRPA has “put millions of dollars into supporting Packer” with new cranes and reefer container plugs. “We are proud of our role in maintaining the physical infrastructure and incentives” for the successful facility. Holt Logistics Corp., based in Gloucester City, NJ, is Packer Terminal’s contracted manager.
Pennsylvania’s port trade is helped by new Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, who has a business background. PRPA Chairman Jerry Sweeny is a successful real estate businessman and is also helping the authority’s direction, O’Brien said.
Robert Blackburn, the senior deputy executive director of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, said that PRPA facilities handle about a half-million tons of produce. Of this, 40 to 45 percent is volume offloaded by Turbana at the Pier 82 facility operated by Horizon Stevedores. Penn Terminals is another warehousing, discharge and distribution option for fruit.
The Tioga Fruit Terminal has been retooled to serve Brazilian wood pulp, Blackburn noted. The Tioga pier and warehouse were long successful in handling breakbulk refrigerated cargo, but such cargo has largely lost volume to refrigerated containers.
