Port City...

Commercial Shipping

The hub of seven major highways—I-10, I-95, I-295, and U.S. Highways 1, 17, 90, and 301—Jacksonville has a straight shipping line to the Midwest, West, and Northeast. It is served by more than 100 trucking lines, three major railroads, and Jacksonville International Airport. As the largest deep-water port in the South Atlantic, Jacksonville is the leading U.S. port for automobile imports.

Port Signs Contract with Mitsui O.S.K. (excerpt from Florida-Times Union)

“ The Port Authority officially signed a contract in September 2007 with a Japanese international shipping company that will connect Jacksonville to an Asian trade lane, create thousands of jobs in the area and make the port one of the busiest in the country.

Over the next 2 1/2 years, the Port Authority and Japan-based shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. will turn the undeveloped riverside land adjacent to the Jaxport Cruise Terminal at Dames Point into a 158-acre cargo terminal, a $200 million project that local officials have been pursuing for years.

"What you see today is Jacksonville coming of age," said port Executive Director Rick Ferrin. "We have taken a tremendous step toward realizing our vision."

Prior to officially signing the contract with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., a Japanese company that is setting up the $200 million terminal facility at Dames Point, the Jacksonville Port Authority board took care of routine business, including passing the budget for the coming fiscal year and taking the first step toward developing land it owns that is not on the waterfront.

During the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, the port looks to earn a record $36.5 million, the largest amount of revenue in the port's history. It plans to spend $123 million on capital projects, including $48 million on the new cargo terminal to be built for MOL at Dames Point and $37.3 million for work at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal.

The budget also includes $1.8 million slated to come from a new security fee, designed to pay for increased security expenses, which will jump from $3.4 million in 2005 to $4 million in 2006.

After signing the contract, the Port Authority board authorized its staff to begin work on clearing trees from a piece of property it owns west of Talleyrand Avenue. This property might be a possible site for a distribution center or other port-related business that doesn't need access to the water...”

JAXPORT and the City of Jacksonville Announce Development of Hanjin Shipping Company Terminal (excerpt from Jaxport website)

Oct. 18, 2007 -- JAXPORT and Mayor John Peyton announced today the signing of an initial agreement with Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd. to develop a $360 million container terminal in Jacksonville.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) allows JAXPORT and Hanjin to move forward on contract negotiations regarding construction, financing and operations of the facility. The MOU was signed by all three parties today in a ceremony at the Hanjin headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.

“Today’s agreement with Hanjin underscores Jacksonville’s new role in global trade,” said Rick Ferrin, executive director of JAXPORT. “With this historic signing, not one, but two major players in the international shipping arena have given notice in a big way that JAXPORT is the place to be.”

Mayor Peyton added, “Jacksonville is well on its way to becoming one of the largest and most successful port cities on the East Coast and the premier logistics and transportation hub in the Southeastern United States. The Board and staff at JAXPORT have done a tremendous job attracting shippers of this magnitude, which complements the city’s efforts to attract high-wage jobs for residents and increase economic opportunities. I warmly welcome Hanjin Shipping to our great city and am hopeful an agreement to move forward can be reached quickly.”

Hanjin is Korea’s largest, and one of the world’s biggest, container carriers moving more than 100 million tons of cargo annually while operating in more than 50 countries. In the United States, Hanjin’s subsidiary, Total Terminal International currently operates dedicated terminals in Long Beach and Oakland, Calif., and Seattle, Wash.

The MOU signed today calls for the 170-acre Hanjin Shipping Terminal, Jacksonville to begin operations in 2011 with capacity to handle one million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually. This measurement equates to more than seven and a half million tons of cargo.

Tony Nelson, chairman of the JAXPORT Board of Directors said, “Our board’s focus has always been on providing jobs and opportunity for the people of Jacksonville. This is a most satisfying move toward fulfilling that goal.”

The Hanjin Shipping Container Terminal, Jacksonville is expected to generate at least $1 billion in economic activity in Northeast Florida and create thousands of new direct and indirect jobs for the region.

The proposed Hanjin Shipping Container Terminal, Jacksonville will be JAXPORT’s fifth marine terminal and Hanjin’s first dedicated operation on the U.S. East Coast. This strategic move is meant to capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal and the anticipated increase of container traffic along the east coast. No specific site has been designated for the terminal at this time.

“Hanjin is involved in developing new terminals around the world and we are pleased to begin talks with JAXPORT,” said J.W. Park, Hanjin Shipping president and chief executive officer. “Our aim in locating on the East Coast is to offer upgraded service, lower costs and improved schedules to our customers. The Hanjin Shipping Container Terminal, Jacksonville will definitely help us accomplish that.”