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Maersk Planning for Busier Hampton Roads

Posted on: Friday, 14 October 2005, 18:00 CDT

By Jeremiah McWilliams, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Oct. 14--VIRGINIA BEACH -- Hampton Roads may soon be one of the hottest destinations for container shipping in the United States, but the region's roads and infrastructure need an extensive makeover to cope with the rise in traffic, the president and chief executive officer of Maersk Line Ltd. said Thursday.

"Here in Hampton Roads we have an infrastructure problem in meeting the growth that's coming," John F. Reinhart said at a luncheon organized by Regent University. "We do have choke points here."

Reinhart, whose Norfolk-based company operates 52 ships under contracts with the U.S. government and its contractors, said the port of Hampton Roads needs direct rail service that does not block roads, especially as construction ramps up at a new APM Terminals facility scheduled to open in Portsmouth in 2007.

Danish giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S -- parent of Maersk Line, APM Terminals and Maersk Sealand, the world's largest container shipping line -- is betting that strong demand for shipping through Hampton Roads will support additional facilities. Reinhart said the $450 million project will eventually feature 10 cranes and 12 on-dock rail lines.

"Historically, the main points of ingress have been New York and Los Angeles. Well, this is going to be a mid-Atlantic option," he said. "This is the future. We do believe in bringing opportunities in global commerce -- we do believe it's ready to come here."

The construction is part of an effort to stay ahead of growing demand that would otherwise outstrip capacity in Hampton Roads, Reinhart said.

"We can't put too much more through the facilities that we have," he said. "We need more acreage under development."

Joseph A. Dorto, chief executive and general manager of Virginia International Terminals Inc., said after the luncheon that expansion was necessary.

"When you look at the big picture, the port would be out of space in three years," he said. "We're going to need all the capacity we can get our hands on" if projections of a doubling in world trade in the near future are correct.

Dorto echoed Reinhart's concerns over inadequate infrastructure.

"Sooner or later, someone's going to have to fix that, and it's going to take money," Dorto said. "Someone's got to take that bull by the horns."

News researcher Jakon Hays contributed to this report.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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