The Port of Charleston’s newest terminal finally expects to welcome container vessels three years after the carriers began avoiding the gateway due to a major labor dispute.
The South Carolina Ports Authority has reached an agreement with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) that will make way for the full reopening of the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal. The ports’ board of directors voted unanimously in support of the agreement.
“SC Ports and ILA proudly announce that after productive and collaborative conversations, we have mutually developed and agreed to the framework for an operating agreement that will create long-term stability and competitiveness for the Port of Charleston while providing an enhanced product,” the groups said in a joint statement.
“More importantly, SC Ports and ILA worked together to protect jobs to create a seamless transition toward a future that recognizes a trained and experienced workforce across all SC Ports’ terminals,” the statement read. “SC Ports and ILA are ready to welcome our USMX partners at the Leatherman Terminal for many years to come without hesitation as all obstacles to operations have been removed.”
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Neither party has officially stated when the terminal is set for reopening, but a report from Charleston-based publication The Post and Courier indicated that the gateway is prepping a July 2024 reopening. This would give the port additional capacity to handle up to 700,000 20-foot containers (TEUs).
Leatherman opened its first berth in March 2021, but the terminal has remained largely idle in the time since due to an ongoing labor dispute between the union, its maritime employers and multiple ocean carriers over a “hybrid” employment model in which non-union members were performing union-designated tasks.
A month after the terminal opened, the ILA filed a $300-million suit against the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), as well as ocean carriers Hapag-Lloyd and Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), for allowing non-union workers to unload a cargo ship at the terminal. That lawsuit, still in arbitration, has scared off container lines from docking at Leatherman over the past three years.
The ILA effectively won the labor dispute in February when the Supreme Court denied a separate petition from the South Carolina Ports Authority, requesting they hear a dispute over who gets to operate cranes at the terminal.
Leatherman Terminal already has 1,400 feet of berth space and five ship-to-shore cranes, and is the first container terminal in the U.S. to open since 2009. Once fully developed, the terminal will have three ship berths with space for 2.4 million cargo containers, effectively doubling its current capacity.
The opening of Leatherman would be a big deal for cargo flowing into the East Coast. The Port of Charleston is the fourth busiest port by tonnage on the East Coast after the Port of New York and New Jersey, the Port of Savannah and the Port of Virginia.
As the port awaits the opening of the Leatherman Terminal, it is looking for ways to reduce its vessel queue in the wake of the brief shutdown of the wider South Carolina port system in late May due to a two-day software issue.
On Monday, the authority said it was implementing “creative operational solutions” and temporarily pausing toe wall construction for ocean carriers and shippers. The ports said the operational solutions have already helped decrease both wait times and the number of ships waiting. At the time of the notice, three ships were at anchor.
“Our SC Ports team and maritime partners are working together to ensure fluidity for our customers amid this critical infrastructure project,” SC Ports president and CEO Barbara Melvin said in a statement. “Our ability to provide creative solutions when challenges arise, along with the incredible support we receive from our customers, makes all the difference in navigating short-term supply chain challenges.”
Construction of the toe wall at the Wando Welch Terminal began in March 2024. The work of installing steel sheets along the wharf is done in sections, allowing SC Ports to accommodate three ships at the terminal for most of the spring. As work progressed down the wharf, only two berths were available, causing longer wait times for vessels.
Beginning Wednesday, SC Ports will pause work on the toe wall project to reopen all three berths at Wando Welch Terminal through July 14. This pause in construction will enable SC Ports and the maritime community to work ships faster and work through the remaining anchorage.
SC Ports expects to work ships on arrival by mid-July. As the toe wall construction resumes going into August, a 48-hour average wait is anticipated. The planned reopening of Leatherman will aid in providing additional berth for carriers.