Port keeps growing, celebrates its 1,000th ship

A ceremony marking the arrival of the 1,000th ship to call at the Port of Eastport was an occasion to celebrate the port's success over the past 30 years and its ongoing efforts so that it is one of the fastest growing cargo ports in New England. The vessel, the CEC Mirage, offloaded containers to carry cows at the Estes Head facility on April 19.
Port Director Chris Gardner noted that the 1980 Booz-Allen study of the port's feasibility had predicted that Eastport would handle only up to 50,000 tons of cargo a year. The expectations have been greatly exceeded, and last year over 400,000 tons were shipped. With the Woodland mill "reenergized," the shipment of dairy cows and the new bulk material conveyor system, he predicted that it would not take another 30 years for 1,000 more ships to be loaded at the port. The port plans this year on shipping over 400,000 metric tons of wood pulp, 20,000 cows and perhaps its first load of wood chips.
Bob Peacock, a member of the port authority board and a ship's pilot, pointed out that the port's success is the result of a partnership among many, including the state of Maine. He felt that the state's investment of some $26 million into the port had been paid back at least three times, as the port, over 30 years, has generated some $90 million into the state's economy, through salaries, the manufacture of wood pulp, storage, ship operations and trucking.
Senate President Kevin Raye of Perry noted that 19 ships had called at the port during its first two years. In comparison, 19 ships had already called during just the first three and a half months of this year. He predicted that rate would continue to increase, with the completion of "a world-class conveyor system." Gardner thanked Raye for his efforts on behalf of the port, noting that Raye had fought in the Senate for the current state investment in the $7 million to $8 million project for the bulk-cargo conveyor system.
Federal Marine Terminals Manager Skip Rogers stated that the port has many advantages in its favor, including the deepest water in North America, except for Valdez, Alaska, and its location as the closest U.S. port to Europe, but it still lacks rail access. There may still be hope of getting rail to the port, and then there would be "no limit on how productive we could be." Noting the different cargoes the port has handled, including over four million tons of wood pulp, logs, granite, peat moss, windmill blades, yachts, power plants and cows, he said that a debt of gratitude is owed to the longshoremen and independent truckers. Over the past 30 years since the first ship arrived under the Eastport Port Authority over 200 jobs have been provided to the people of Eastport and the Washington County region.