Portland plots to enlist a private operator

After two years of reported losses, the port had threatened to close the terminal, which would have removed direct access to transpacific container markets for shippers in Portland and Oregon.

Submission of a business plan to Tina Kotek, Governor of Oregon, included the need for US$40 million of state funding to keep the facility open, which comprises US$5 million in stop-gap funding to help cover the current fiscal year’s loss and $35 million for dredging the Columbia River and long-term capital work at the T6 facility.

Portland is hopeful of following the landlord model that is commonplace to other West Coast ports. The port’s Board of Commissioners said it wants to negotiate an agreement with a private terminal operator to take over T6 and handle management and daily operations, along with marketing the facility to ocean carriers and cargo shippers.

“An agreement with a private operator would shield the port from the highly cyclical nature of the business and remove the current stevedore management structure for hiring labour and managing the terminal,” the port stated in its business plan.