Facility Development: Honolulu, Port Fourchon, Prince Rupert

Hawaii: New Spill Responses Facility Supports Honolulu Container Terminal Development

New berth area at Honolulu’s Pier 12, with harbor landmark Aloha Tower to the left.
Photo/Hawaii DOT Harbors Division

Newly constructed piers and upgraded facilities in the Port of Honolulu for Clean Islands Council (CIC) and Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) vessels have freed up harbor space for the development of a critically needed container terminal.

"This aspect of the harbor improvements consolidates the emergency response vessels into a single area, which will help response time in a crisis situation," said Darrell Young, deputy director of Hawaii DOT’s Harbors Division. "The upgrade and modernization of our harbor facilities is essential if we expect our communities to thrive and not just survive."

Improvements include constructing new foundation elements, installing new concrete pile caps and slabs, installing precast and prestressed concrete planks and pavement, installation of waterlines, dock fenders and mooring bollards, upgrades to the electrical system and lighting, constructing new roof fascia and built-up roofing all to improve the safety and functionality of the facilities.

The project is part of the process of transforming the former Kapalama Military Reservation into a major container handling facility.  Hawaii DOT hopes the Kapalama Container Terminal will address the critical need for new container terminal space and resolve the shortage of cargo handling capacity issues at Hawaii’s busiest commercial harbor.

Approximately, 80 percent of all goods consumed by Hawaii’s residents and visitors are imported.  Nearly 99 percent of those imported goods pass through the Port Hawaii system.

Port Fourchon Moves Forward with Deepwater Facility Development

The Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC)’s plans for deepwater port facilities at Port Fourchon took a big step forward last month with the signing of an agreement with the Edward Wisner Donation granting GLPC a Right of First Refusal on more than 900 acres immediately south of the port.

A separate Memorandum of Understanding signed last month between GLPC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) New Orleans District allows GLPC to study the feasibility of a deeper draft channel into Port Fourchon.

The Edward Wisner Donation Advisory Committee, the entity which manages the Wisner Trust land, approved a Right of First Refusal agreement that allows the GLPC to begin promoting its next-generation development, Fourchon Island, and working toward framing a full lease document for the property.

The Fourchon Island development would become a purpose-built, deepwater rig repair and refurbishment complex.

"What's so exciting to us about this deeper water development is that it will allow us to truly service the entire industrial life cycle of the assets for our tenants and their customers in the Gulf of Mexico," said GLPC Executive Director Chett Chiasson. "[The] Right of First Refusal document gives us first call on the property and allows us to truly engage the marketplace in discussions on their needs for this facility and what features are most important to our customers."

The USACE study will examine the feasibility of  deepening the Bayou Lafourche main channel through Belle Pass, from its intersection with Pass Fourchon out into the Gulf of Mexico, to a depth of between 35 and 50 feet  (10.7 and 15.2 meters) for a distance of approximately six miles. The project will add up to about 900 acres/364 hectares of slips and industrial land when fully developed.

The study will also look at the economics of developing the Fourchon Island area as a deepwater rig repair and refurbishment facility.  

"Currently, we service over 90 percent of all of the deepwater activity in the Gulf, and we know that many of these rigs that we service were built right here in this region," said GLPC Board President Perry Gisclair. "They are serviced by companies based in Port Fourchon, and now we hope to add a cutting-edge deepwater rig repair and refurbishment facility at the most central and accessible location in the entire Gulf of Mexico. This will help our community to pick up work that currently has to go as far away as South Korea to get done, which in turn, will help the energy industry reduce their costs and downtime when refurbishing their deepwater assets in the coming years."

The dredge material would be used for coastal restoration and for the wetlands creation needed to meet the project's mitigation requirements.

The port commission anticipates the Corps study will be complete by early 2019, allowing Fourchon Island development to begin around 2020.

Breakbulk/Bulk Cargo Terminal Feasibility Study at Port of Prince Rupert

The Prince Rupert Port Authority has signed a feasibility assessment agreement with SSA Marine and its wholly owned subsidiary Western Stevedoring to explore the viability of a breakbulk and bulk import/export terminal.

The terminal project is part of the port’s Gateway 2020 development planning and is tied to the Ridley Island Road, Rail and Utility Corridor. The 80-hectare/198 acre terminal would be sited adjacent to CN Railroad’s mainline on the south shore of Kaien Island. The location is near existing bulk terminals on Ridley Island and accessible by ships.
 
The port lost its breakbulk cargo capacity when Fairview Terminal was converted into a container terminal in 2007.  The proposed development would restore the port’s capacity or handle non-containerized general cargo such as forest products, steel, project lifts, bulk specialty agricultural products, bulk mineral concentrates and automobiles.  
The agreement provides SSA Marine/Western Stevedoring the opportunity to assess market demand for the facility.

An environmental assessment of the site would be required if the feasibility assessment substantiates the terminal’s potential.

Western Stevedoring, a diversified stevedoring, terminal and logistics company with operations throughout British Columbia, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Carrix/SSA Marine.

"Ongoing cargo diversification is one of the highest priorities for the Port of Prince Rupert. " said Port Authority President Don Krusel "The potential for the return of breakbulk and general cargoes capacity to the Port of Prince Rupert represents a clear response to growing market demand in Western Canada."