Thursday, November 12, 2009

Guam Shipyard Misuse Appears Settled

In what appears to be a conclusion to the misuse of a shipyard as a commercial port facility in Guam, the Port Authority of Guam will take over handling of cargo still at the shipyard on a one-time basis.

The port determined that it would be unsafe to transfer the 270 pieces of odd-sized construction material, including steel beams up to 140 feet long, from the shipyard– where another shipment was illegally loaded on a vessel in August– to the commercial port by truck.

Port workers will handle the loading of the material at the shipyard and charge the cargo owner the same as if the material moved through the regular commercial port. The cargo owner, Watts Constructors, already paid the PAG $88,000, or the equivalent of what it would have cost to use the commercial port, for the first shipment. About two-thirds of the original cargo still remains at the shipyard, bound for Hawaii.

Under Guam law, commercial cargo can only be handled through the PAG-run commercial port.