Competition and Excess Capacity Projected At Existing East Coast Ports
In competition with the proposed port, the majority of existing east coast ports are now investing in dredging and expansion projects to attract the larger post-Panamax vessels. In February 2011, Alberto Aleman, the CEO of the Panama Canal, addressed the issue of expanding capacity on the east coast "Two deeper, wider ports along the US Eastern seaboard and one in the Gulf coast should be enough to handle the growth in traffic, instead of the approximately 13 port expansions now underway. The East Coast has many ports, and the large container ships are not going to stop at every port." Given a future environment of such excess capacity where the new post-Panamax vessels can find existing east coast ports competing with each other for business, it is likely that the proposed Southport site would have been in a difficult competitive position. North Carolina manufacturers have a number of existing cost-competitive overseas shipping port options to keep them competitive with other east coast manufacturers without a taxpayer-subsidized port in Southport.
Competition by existing east coast ports was accelerated on July 19, 2012 when President Obama announced that the federal government was expediting five major port expansion projects at Jacksonville and Miami, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; New York and New Jersey. The White House said that the expedited projects would be completed between 2012 and 2015.
The Southport site would also have been at a competitive disadvantage geographically, located on an inherently shallow-water estuary. “God gave Norfolk that advantage,” said NC Secretary of Transportion Gene Conti on Aug. 13, 2012, referring to the natural deep water in and around Hampton Roads. “I can’t compete with God.”
In his March 27, 2013 presentation of "The Future of NC Ports", Jeff Miles, acting executive director of the N.C. State Ports Authority, put into words the authority’s current approach to competing with other East Coast ports. “Charleston, Norfolk and Savannah today are just behemoth container operators,” he said. “Engaging in an arms race with those guys is a prescription for a serious loss. We just can’t go toe-to-toe with them today.”
Read more about this topic: North Carolina International Port
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