First US container terminal since 2009 opens

Operations at South Carolina Ports’ Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal at the Port of Charleston began on 30 March with the arrival of the first container. On 9 April, the terminal saw its first ship arrive, Hapag Lloyd’s Yorktown Express.

SC Ports CEO, Jim Newsome, said: “SC Ports is extremely proud to open the first container terminal in the U.S. since 2009 in South Carolina.”

He added: “We have invested in the right infrastructure at the right time to handle growing cargo volumes and bigger ships, ensuring SC Ports remains a top 10 U.S. container port. The Leatherman Terminal adds a berth and more capacity to the Port of Charleston when it is most needed on the East Coast.”

Able to handle the biggest ships

The Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal can efficiently work the biggest ships calling on East Coast ports. Phase One adds 700,000 TEUs of throughput capacity to the Port of Charleston.

Its 1,400-foot berth can handle a 20,000-TEU vessel. Five electric ship-to-shore cranes with 169 feet of lift height and 228 feet of outreach stand on the berth, ready to move cargo on and off container ships. These cranes are among the tallest on the East Coast.

The 47-acre container yard has 25 eco-efficient hybrid rubber-tired gantry cranes and eight empty container handlers to efficiently move cargo boxes around the terminal.

At full buildout, the US$2bn terminal will have three berths and 286 acres, adding 2.4m TEUs of annual throughput capacity.