The Seattle and Tacoma ports said Oct. 7 that they plan to
unify the management of their marine cargo terminals and related functions
under a single seaport alliance, with the goal being to strengthen the Puget
Sound gateway and attract more marine cargo for the region.
The alliance is to manage marine cargo terminal investments
and operations, planning and marketing, while the individual port commissions
retain their existing governance structures and ownership of assets.
The ports say the level of cooperation between the state’s
two largest container ports, which is unprecedented, is a strategic response to
the competitive pressures that are reshaping the global shipping industry.
“The ports of Seattle and Tacoma face fierce competition
from ports throughout North America, as shipping lines form alliances, share
space on ever-larger vessels and call at consolidated terminals at fewer
ports,” Port of Tacoma Commission President Clare Petrich said. “Working
together, we can better focus on financially sustainable business models that
support customer success and ensure our ability to reinvest in terminal assets
and infrastructure.”
Taken together, marine cargo operations at both ports support
over 48,000 jobs across the region.
“Where we were once rivals, we now intend to be partners,” Port
of Seattle Commission Co-President Stephanie Bowman said. “Instead of competing
against one another, we are combining our strengths to create the strongest maritime
gateway in North America.”
The alliance is the outgrowth of talks that began in January
and were held with permission from the Federal Maritime Commission, the agency
responsible for regulating the U.S. international ocean transportation system.
Subject to further FMC review and approval, the two port
commissions plan to enter into an interlocal agreement, which is intended to
provide a framework for a period of due diligence to examine business
objectives, strategic marine terminal investments, financial returns,
performance metrics, organizational structure and more.
The two commissions expect to formally adopt and move to
submit the interlocal agreement to the FMC at a joint public meeting Oct. 14. A
more detailed agreement for the alliance is expected to be submitted by the
commissions to the FMC by the end of March 2015.
During the due diligence period, Port of Tacoma CEO John
Wolfe and Port of Seattle Deputy CEO Kurt Beckett are to co-lead the planning
work and coordinate with both port commissions; Wolfe is expected to be hired
as the alliance’s CEO next spring following the FMC’s approval of the
agreement.
The ports say that citizen and stakeholder public review of
the alliance proposal will be undertaken throughout the due diligence period
and that information about public meetings, how to submit written comments and
other related news will be posted on both ports’ websites in the future as
warranted.
