Firm to ship wood chips through port

Great Northern Timber Inc., based in Halifax, is expected to begin stockpiling wood chips at the Port of Eastport's new bulk material storage yard in January, with the first shipment to be loaded during the first quarter of the new year. The Eastport Port Authority board voted to proceed with finalizing a contract with the company following a lengthy executive session during its November 21 meeting. Four companies have been actively seeking to ship wood chips through the port, and the board had narrowed its decision down to two suitors, Great Northern Timber and Timber Biofuels, a Maine-based company.
"I feel very comfortable we can come to terms with Great Northern," says Port Director Chris Gardner of the remaining contract negotiations. "It was a very difficult decision," he adds, noting that only one customer could be selected. Although it would be difficult to handle more than one wood chip customer because of the port's space limitations and because "there are only so many trees in the forest," other bulk materials, such as pellets or rock aggregate, can be handled by the new bulk conveyor system, Gardner says.
Great Northern Timber operates wood fiber harvesting and chipping facilities in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The company's shipments will be "compatible with existing surpluses of fiber," using under-utilized species and qualities of wood, according to Stephean Chute of Great Northern Timber. The wood will be obtained from Washington, Hancock and Penobscot counties in Maine and from New Brunswick. He says the volume of the shipments through the port "will be driven by the surpluses." The volume and the number of ships expected annually are not yet being released by the company.
Chute also declines, at this point, to indicate where the wood will be chipped. The chipping operation will be similar to the company's operations in Sheet Harbour, N.S., and Dalhousie, N.B. He says the company was drawn to ship out of Eastport because Eastport, Dalhousie and Sheet Harbour are all about equal distance from each other. "This allows us to even out production," he says of shipments through Eastport.
Also during the executive session, the port authority board met with Bert Martin and Roger McIver of Woodland Pulp LLC, until now the major user of the port. Gardner says the port authority is "sensitive to their needs" and wants to "make sure we're not hurting one customer over another." He says the Woodland mill officials were not favoring a particular customer, but rather the board wanted to exercise due diligence in making a decision that could have a potential impact on the mill. He adds, "With wood products, everybody's mindful of pressures that can be put on the fiber basket." He says that point was one of many considerations that the board weighed during its deliberations in selecting a company. Great Northern Timber will be sending wood chips from sources on both sides of the border. It is believed Timber Biofuels would have been sourcing its wood from Maine.
For the port, the new business will mean a couple of new jobs maintaining the chip pile and more work for the longshoremen. "It broadens our wings even further," says Gardner of the diversification of the port, which is now also regularly shipping out dairy cows.
Cruise ship visits
A report from Chris Brown on upcoming cruise ship visits to Eastport notes that the 184-foot Grande Caribe of Blount Small Ship Adventures, which can carry 96 passengers, will be making three visits next summer, on August 3B4, 14B15 and 25B26. The 644-foot cruise ship The World, which has over 250 passengers, will be visiting on October 9.

Other business
In other business during the November 21 meeting, board member Bob Wallace asked whether the board should consider if it wants to continue providing tugboats for ships docking at the port or contract out the service. The charge for having a tugboat company bring a tug to dock a ship has been about $12,500, and another $12,500 for when the ship leaves. The port authority charges about $5,000 for docking a ship. With the ships that will be handling wood chips being bulk freighters without bow thrusters, a second tug, more powerful than the small Abaco tug, will be needed. The board will consider the issue at its next meeting.
The paving of the bulk material storage yard has been finished by Lane Construction at a price of $714,000. Gardner did note that a depression in the area allowed for "a skating pond" after a recent rainstorm. He will be taking the issue up with the contractor to have it resolved.
Gardner told the board that he will proceed with negotiating with Federal Marine Terminals about compensation by FMT for use of the bulk material yard that is not paved and is used to store the containers for cows. The port authority will seek an annual agreement with FMT covering the costs for the area, including plowing and sanding.