THE Port of Charleston, under the aegis of the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA), which had the most vessels at anchor of any major port on the US east coast two months ago, now has the fewest, reports IHS Media.
That compares with Savannah at eight, and New York and New Jersey and Virginia, which each have nearly a dozen anchored vessels.
SC Ports whittled its queue by prioritising vessels taking out more cargo than discharging, leasing new chassis, and adding Sunday truck gate hours through June 30.
SCPA chief executive Jim Newsome said changes to how vessels berth has had a major impact. 'We dedicated one berth to sort of quick transitioning vessels, smaller move-count vessels,' he said.
'So we kept two of the three berths at [the Wando Welch Terminal] for large ships, the 13,000-TEU big loop-count vessels.'
Progress was made even though laden import volume was up 16 per cent year over year in March, according to SC Ports.
South Carolina has also employed a modified 'first-in, first-out' strategy with vessels whereby ships that take out more containers than they discharge can skip any line and berth in Charleston immediately, providing an incentive for ocean carriers to take out more containers.
One key method is evacuating import boxes. The number of containers sitting on dock for more than 15 days has fallen from 8,000 in early March to 6,000 now, but that number is still six times higher than it should be, Mr Newsome said.
Container dwell times are also longer than the four to five days that the SC Ports would prefer. The average dwell for an import container is nine days in Charleston, compared with 8.3 days in Savannah and 6.3 days in Virginia. Charleston's export dwell is also averaging nine days, as is Savannah's; Norfolk is at 6.8 days, according to data from the respective port authorities.
Norfolk Southern Railway has also made operational adjustments because of the progress in Charleston, lifting the embargo on export loads from Atlanta and Memphis into Charleston that was instituted in March and set a cap of 25 loads per day.
Charleston has been able to improve fluidity through its three container terminals due to close coordination with the trucking community.
SC Ports has leased out nearly 800 chassis to trucking companies and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) pending the launch of its proprietary chassis pool next spring.
SeaNews Turkey
That compares with Savannah at eight, and New York and New Jersey and Virginia, which each have nearly a dozen anchored vessels.
SC Ports whittled its queue by prioritising vessels taking out more cargo than discharging, leasing new chassis, and adding Sunday truck gate hours through June 30.
SCPA chief executive Jim Newsome said changes to how vessels berth has had a major impact. 'We dedicated one berth to sort of quick transitioning vessels, smaller move-count vessels,' he said.
'So we kept two of the three berths at [the Wando Welch Terminal] for large ships, the 13,000-TEU big loop-count vessels.'
Progress was made even though laden import volume was up 16 per cent year over year in March, according to SC Ports.
South Carolina has also employed a modified 'first-in, first-out' strategy with vessels whereby ships that take out more containers than they discharge can skip any line and berth in Charleston immediately, providing an incentive for ocean carriers to take out more containers.
One key method is evacuating import boxes. The number of containers sitting on dock for more than 15 days has fallen from 8,000 in early March to 6,000 now, but that number is still six times higher than it should be, Mr Newsome said.
Container dwell times are also longer than the four to five days that the SC Ports would prefer. The average dwell for an import container is nine days in Charleston, compared with 8.3 days in Savannah and 6.3 days in Virginia. Charleston's export dwell is also averaging nine days, as is Savannah's; Norfolk is at 6.8 days, according to data from the respective port authorities.
Norfolk Southern Railway has also made operational adjustments because of the progress in Charleston, lifting the embargo on export loads from Atlanta and Memphis into Charleston that was instituted in March and set a cap of 25 loads per day.
Charleston has been able to improve fluidity through its three container terminals due to close coordination with the trucking community.
SC Ports has leased out nearly 800 chassis to trucking companies and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs) pending the launch of its proprietary chassis pool next spring.
SeaNews Turkey