The Port of Virginia is in the news all over again for multiple reasons.
Ever since the Pandemic kicked in, the US is facing an unprecedented increase in the number of Box ships calling at its ports due to the spike in consumption across the country. Ecommerce is the biggest contributor to the logistics nightmare for seafarers hanging out at sea waiting for berths in the Long Beach and Miami ports.
Container handling peaked at the Port of Virginia posting its most productive year on record having processed more than 3.5 million TEU.
The port closed its year having processed more than 325,000 TEU in December, making it the most productive month in history; the previous record was 318,000 TEU processed in October. Comparatively, December 2021 volumes were ahead of December 2020 volumes by 25% or more than 65,000 TEU.
Ongoing projects at Virginia include:
Dredging: The Thimble Shoal West project is nearing completion and dredge crews are preparing to begin work on Thimble Shoal East. When complete in 2024, the port’s channels will be 55ft deep and wide enough to accommodate two ULCVs in the channel at once.
NIT Central Rail Yard: The project’s $80 million budget was approved in November 2021 and work begins this winter. When complete, the Central Rail Yard at Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) will be able to accommodate 610,000 annual container lifts; the current lift capacity is 350,000.
Equipment: Two new Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes will be delivered to NIT in early spring and will be in service by the start of summer 2021. The Port has ordered three Konecranes Rail-Mounted Gantry (RMG) cranes for its Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) facility. The cranes will be delivered by the end of 2023. This follows the successful deployment of four Konecranes RMGs of a similar design at the Virginia International Gateway (VIG).
Offshore Wind: The port completed its lease of Portsmouth Marine Terminal to companies that will use the terminal as the staging and pre-assembly area for the components needed to develop a large-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Virginia Beach.
Port Authorities said that they are potentially looking to increase the rail lift capacity to process more than one million lifts annually.
The progress on dredging is on track to make Virginia home to the deepest port on the US East Coast by late 2024. Fostering private investment on the terminals are helping the port to support an entirely new industry — wind energy — in Virginia. They are poised on investing in equipment to ensure that they are future-ready.
The Port of Virginia is also looking to increase its efficiency, as CP & O LLC and Ceres Marine Terminal have consolidated services at the port under the CP&O brand.
The new venture will combine the two organisations under one name, aiming to provide opportunities for growth and efficiency. This is said to become useful in light of the mass surge in consumer demand driven by the COVID-19 pandemic.
