The container port is ready for rail service. NYCT has the engine,about
6 or 7 tracks for unloading intermodal cars, and Arlington Yard for
storage. The problem maybe this:
Terminal mad about PA's dollar demands
Says request for $54M could scuttle a sale
Sunday, April 15, 2007
BY JOE MALINCONICO
Star-Ledger Staff
The proposed $470 million sale of a Staten Island shipping terminal operation may collapse due to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's efforts to collect $54 million from the deal, company officials said.
"The Port Authority is not being flexible at all," said Jim De vine, president of New York Container Terminal. "It looks like the deal is going to get killed."
Port Authority officials said they remain willing to negotiate with the three companies involved -- Orient Overseas of Hong Kong, the would- be seller; Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the would-be buyer; and New York Container Terminal, which runs the shipping operation for Orient Overseas.
The Port Authority said it is asking Orient Overseas and the Ontario Teachers' fund for $54 million to cover capital improvements it has made to the docks and for future upgrades.
The agency made a similar request earlier this year when DP World sold Port Newark Container Terminal to AIG Global Investment Group. The Port Authority reaped $50 million from that deal after originally asking for $84 million.
"We're trying to be good stewards of the public's money and making sure the public investment is not being used to leverage financial gain for a private investor," Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said.
But Devine said the Port Authority's tactics were akin to "extortion" and he argued the agency could end up stunting the growth projected for the region's port.
"This is going to send a signal to the investment community that this is not a good place to do business," Devine said.
The Port Authority owns the 155-acre terminal at the southwestern tip of Staten Island, just across from Elizabeth, and has a lease with New York Container Terminal. In 2006, the Staten Island terminal handled 383 ships and moved about 555,000 cargo containers. Those numbers make it smaller than the three major terminals in Newark and Elizabeth.
But New York Container Terminal is in the midst of ambitious ex pansion, including the opening of a rail link to New Jersey and the construction of a fourth shipping berth.
Devine said there is a disparity between the way the Port Authority is handling the sale of the Staten Island terminal and the way it approached the deal involving DP World and the terminal in Newark.
"We're a smaller terminal and they're holding us up for more money," Devine said.
In the DP World deal, the Port Authority came under intense political pressure to drop its demands because prominent elected officials were anxious to see the Dubai- based company give up its owner ship of an American port.
The Port Authority spokesman said even if the sale of the New York Container Terminal collapses, the terminal would continue to operate under a lease that runs for another 12 years.
"The people should know that it will not shut down," Coleman said. "Not one job will be lost."
Joe Malinconico may be reached at [email protected] or (973) 392-4230.
6 or 7 tracks for unloading intermodal cars, and Arlington Yard for
storage. The problem maybe this:
Terminal mad about PA's dollar demands
Says request for $54M could scuttle a sale
Sunday, April 15, 2007
BY JOE MALINCONICO
Star-Ledger Staff
The proposed $470 million sale of a Staten Island shipping terminal operation may collapse due to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's efforts to collect $54 million from the deal, company officials said.
"The Port Authority is not being flexible at all," said Jim De vine, president of New York Container Terminal. "It looks like the deal is going to get killed."
Port Authority officials said they remain willing to negotiate with the three companies involved -- Orient Overseas of Hong Kong, the would- be seller; Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, the would-be buyer; and New York Container Terminal, which runs the shipping operation for Orient Overseas.
The Port Authority said it is asking Orient Overseas and the Ontario Teachers' fund for $54 million to cover capital improvements it has made to the docks and for future upgrades.
The agency made a similar request earlier this year when DP World sold Port Newark Container Terminal to AIG Global Investment Group. The Port Authority reaped $50 million from that deal after originally asking for $84 million.
"We're trying to be good stewards of the public's money and making sure the public investment is not being used to leverage financial gain for a private investor," Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said.
But Devine said the Port Authority's tactics were akin to "extortion" and he argued the agency could end up stunting the growth projected for the region's port.
"This is going to send a signal to the investment community that this is not a good place to do business," Devine said.
The Port Authority owns the 155-acre terminal at the southwestern tip of Staten Island, just across from Elizabeth, and has a lease with New York Container Terminal. In 2006, the Staten Island terminal handled 383 ships and moved about 555,000 cargo containers. Those numbers make it smaller than the three major terminals in Newark and Elizabeth.
But New York Container Terminal is in the midst of ambitious ex pansion, including the opening of a rail link to New Jersey and the construction of a fourth shipping berth.
Devine said there is a disparity between the way the Port Authority is handling the sale of the Staten Island terminal and the way it approached the deal involving DP World and the terminal in Newark.
"We're a smaller terminal and they're holding us up for more money," Devine said.
In the DP World deal, the Port Authority came under intense political pressure to drop its demands because prominent elected officials were anxious to see the Dubai- based company give up its owner ship of an American port.
The Port Authority spokesman said even if the sale of the New York Container Terminal collapses, the terminal would continue to operate under a lease that runs for another 12 years.
"The people should know that it will not shut down," Coleman said. "Not one job will be lost."
Joe Malinconico may be reached at [email protected] or (973) 392-4230.