Medical cannabis, tilapia farm ready to take off

Five possibilities for new shipments through the Port of Eastport were eyed during the March 18 meeting of the Eastport Port Authority board.
Executive Director Chris Gardner told the board that he has been discussing with representatives of the St. Croix Tissue mill in Woodland the possibility of assisting with the export of tissue rolls, which are currently being shipped from the mill by truck. The shipment of the tissue containers would require the investment in a crane for the port, and Gardner has been discussing that possibility with Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Bruce Van Note and Nate Moulton, director of the DOT's rail program. Gardner noted that the port authority is working on putting a trial shipment in place and that the acquisition of a crane would expand the port authority's offerings for additional customers using containerized cargo.
Arrangements for the shipping of wood chips to Europe for the Danish firm Verdo, a supplier of biomass to power plants, are progressing, Gardner said. "We are simply waiting for Verdo to decide on its destination port for receiving, and once that is solidified we can better project the shipping date." He noted that ports for a couple of different power plants that would burn the biomass are being considered. Once Verdo decides on the destination port, it will take six to eight weeks to pile down the chips at the Estes Head terminal site. The wood chip export will be the first use of the terminal's $10-million bulk conveyor system and phytosanitary heat-treating technology.
In addition, the port authority is working with a Brazilian operation, Duferco, for the export of low-quality biomass to South America. Gardner said the proposal is "a rapidly developing opportunity." Since they would not be headed into Europe, the biomass shipments would not require heat-treatment, and also there would be no limitations on the type of wood shipped.
Other shipment possibilities include a smaller volume log deal to the port and a localized trade potential for biomass to Canada.

Opposition to trail to Calais
Two legislative bills are being opposed by the port authority, including a proposal to extend the Down East Sunrise Trail from Ayers Junction to Calais, which is sponsored by Senator Marianne Moore of Calais. Gardner outlined that extending the trail would mean the removal of the rail lines, and he feared that once they are removed it would be "very difficult to ever bring them back," as it would pit the rail and trail constituencies against each other. In particular, he thought placing rail lines again in the portion that runs through the Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge would be very unlikely. "If there's ever a future for rail in Eastport, it's going to be on that line," he stated. The board then voted unanimously to oppose the bill.
On Gardner's recommendation, the board also voted to oppose a bill that would require an independent analysis of the Department of Transportation's I-395/Route 9 connector project, as he noted that the project "has been studied to death" for over 20 years.

Cruise ship visits
Seven cruise ship visits to Eastport are scheduled so far this year. They are as follows: May 13, Pearl Mist; July 3 and 4, Grande Mariner; July 5, Grande Mariner; July 14 and 15, Grande Mariner; July 16, Grande Mariner; September 23, Pearl Mist; October 17, Pearl Mist. The following year, the Hurtigruten ships Roald Amundsen and Fram are also scheduled to visit.
Gardner noted that he would not be attending the Seatrade Cruise Global conference and expo in Florida this year, as last year "was not the best use of our money," as Eastport got lost in a grouping that included all of Canada and northern New England.
He suggested that the port authority may want to consider working with Amy Powers, who formerly headed the CruiseMaine coalition but is now working on her own in cruise ship consulting. He also suggested that the newly formed Eastport EDGE group may want to play a larger role in cruise ship service and attraction activities.

Other action
The port authority accepted the sole bid, from Fundy Contractors, for retrofitting the fenders on the east side of the breakwater, at a cost of $163,435. The work, which is necessary so that ships will be farther from the pier and not damaged when they tie up, is to be completed by June 15, before the arrival of a Navy ship for the Fourth of July. The cost is being borne by the DOT.
Board member Earl Small suggested that the port authority should contact a scrap metal company to remove the scallop drags and lobster traps that fishermen have been leaving on the breakwater. Another board member, Rocky Archer, said fishermen should be given 48 hours' notice and then the gear should be hauled away. The board approved a motion to have the harbor committee consider the issue at its next meeting, with the port authority board's recommendation of the 48-hour proposal.
Reviewing the U.S. Coast Guard's new subchapter M safety regulations that apply to all tugboats, Gardner said the requirements "will be extremely costly to small operations," since the tugs may have to be drydocked for inspection every other year, instead of every four to five years. The cost to drydock the port authority's two larger tugs is $50,000, so that annual cost might have to be passed on to the shippers.
The board also voted to table any action until more information is available on a request for funding from the Eastport Arts Center.
The DOT will consider the port authority's request to defer the heat-treating system payments for 2019, in case wood chip operations stall and other forecasts are off.
The U.S. Coast Guard will be proceeding with its proposal to install a fuel system for its boats berthed at the breakwater. The project has been under discussions for a few years. While the project is scheduled to be completed before the end of July, Gardner will be advising the Coast Guard that work may have to be limited on the breakwater around the Fourth of July.