Posted on 12/13/2002 9:04:49 PM PST by need_a_screen_name
14:17 EST Friday
Port of Albany 1st participant in barge distribution network
Eric Durr The Business Review
The Port of Albany will become the terminus for barge-carried shipping container traffic in February, Gov. George Pataki said Friday.
The Port of Albany will become the first participant in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's Port Inland Distribution Network, the governor said. The two year demonstration project is being underwritten with $3.3 million in state and federal money.
The Port Authority will provide $1.2 million to support the Port Elizabeth, N.J., to Albany barge traffic.
When the service begins in February, barges will make the run up and down the Hudson River twice a week, said Port of Albany general manager Frank Keane.
Columbia Costal, a New Jersey-based company that runs 13 sea-going barges up and down the East Coast of the United States, has the contract to provide the service.
Columbia Costal is counting on enough traffic heading north to make a profit, said Thomas Delaney, the firm's senior vice president for operations. If there's not enough return traffic to send full containers south from Albany, the company will simply reposition the empties, Delaney said.
Work on turning the Port of Albany into a major shipping container port has been underway for almost two years, said Albany Port District Commission Chairman Robert F. Cross. The state provided money to run rail lines down the river front, as well as $2.4 million to purchase the massive Liebheer Mobile Harbor Crane that will be used to unload the barges.
The final step was obtaining the funding to subsidize the Columbia Coastal service long enough to get a container route established.
The governor's announcement came during a riverside press conference at the port's Albany wharf.
The goal of the Port Inland Distribution Network is to eliminate traffic congestion in the New York/New Jersey area, take some truck traffic off the roads, and reduce air pollution, said Port Authority Chairman Joe Seymour. Albany is the first port to participate in the program but the Port Authority wants to enlist other ports, Seymour said.
The Port Authority will spend $6 million on the inland port initiative.
"This program is a win-win for the Port of New York and New Jersey and its regional port partners," he said.
Other inland ports in Buffalo, Newburgh, Syracuse, and Binghamton may ultimately participate in the program, the governor said.
"All of us together are taking an enormous first step towards economic growth and economic opportunity here in the Capital Region and across upstate," Pataki said.
It's estimated that 20,000 containers will go from the metropolitan New York region to the Port of Albany and back, the governor said. A full barge could carry up to 300 20-foot long containers on each trip, Delaney said.
While the high-tech industry that is going to be moving into the Albany region are important, the governor said, older industries like manufacturing, and then needs of consumers cannot be overlooked, he said.
"Having an inland port that's able to handle this containerized freight right here at the Port of Albany is a huge and very important step forwards," the governor said.
He estimated that the new port services could result in 100 new jobs at the port and the businesses operating there.
Albany Major Gerald Jennings, state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Brunswick), Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino, and a number of other area business leaders were on hand for the governor's announcement.
The Port Authority is also discussing establishing inland distribution centers in Salem, N.J. and Camden, N.J.
edurr@bizjournals.com | 518-640-6808
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