Issue link: https://jocdigital.uberflip.com/i/703653
www.joc.com THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE 27 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION OF THE JOURNAL OF COMMERCE Alliance strategic plan emphasizes cargo diversity, and breakbulk is an important part of this. To balance investment in assets for breakbulk, we look for long-term partnerships to assure the customers that they will have the assets they need, and we will have the revenue stream necessary to invest in and maintain the facilities." Historically, the Port of Jacksonville has been a significant participant in these trades, and it is determined to maintain that position. "Breakbulk cargoes have been, and will continue to be key cargoes for Jaxport. The port works closely with its tenants, rail, trucking and warehousing partners to maintain current business and pursue new opportunities all the time," Camp said. Recent investments designed to bolster its breakbulk handling muscle confirm this commitment. Jaxport recently rebuilt Berth 31 to accommodate project cargoes up to 1,800 pounds per square foot. Its Blount Island Marine Terminal has a recently reconfigured heavy-lift cargo berth that ranks as one of the nation's highest weight-bearing capacity docks, offering up to 1,800 pounds per square foot of load capacity. This infrastructure upgrade increased the heavy-lift berth rail capability to 78 kips per axle. Brownsville has also increased its handling capacity. Last August, the port inaugurated a new heavy-load-capacity dock, Dock 16. Additionally, the port purchased a second mobile harbor crane with a lifting capacity of 125 tons. Tacoma's EB-1, which came online in 2008, is a significant investment by The Northwest Seaport Alliance in facilities for breakbulk. On the technology side, the alliance has invested significant capital into a new terminal operating system designed to improve operational efficiency and service delivery. An aerial view of the huge number of vessels at anchor in any number of Asian harbors quickly reveals there is T he Port of Brownsville is the only deep-water seaport directly on the U.S.-Mexico border. Opened in 1936, at the south- ernmost tip of Texas and connected to the Gulf of Mexico by a 17-mile-long ship channel, the Port of Brownsville also is the largest land-owning public port authority in the nation, with approximately 40,000 acres. As a bulk and breakbulk commodity port, the Port of Brownsville has developed a versatile marine terminal operation for both liquid and dry bulk cargoes. Petroleum products, gasoline, diesel, heavy naphtha, steel bulk materials, ores, scrap, sand, windmill components, and lime- stone are some of the many commodities moving through the port. The port offers excellent services to facilitate the international movement of goods between Mexico and the United States and to the rest of the global marketplace. Recognized as the worldwide premier U.S. port for ship recycling, Brownsville is home to the largest U.S fabricator of offshore drilling platforms. Other services found there include bulk terminaling for liquids, breakbulk, heavy-lift and project cargo, steel fabrication, storage, crane services, and towing and tug services, among others. The port's infrastructure includes 13 cargo docks, five liquid cargo docks, 635,000 square feet of covered storage facilities, and more than 3 million square feet of open storage. Additionally, the Port of Brownsville will soon begin construction on another liquid cargo dock. The port's intermodal transportation system is geared to move cargo by rail, vessel, barge, truck and pipeline. The newly constructed general cargo dock includes a new mobile harbor crane with a lift capacity of 125 tons. Foreign Trade Zone No. 62, operated by the Port of Brownsville, has been ranked since 2012 as one of the Top 3 FTZs nationwide for exports valued at more than $3 billion annually. A component unit of the port, the Brownsville & Rio Grande International Railway has provided port customers efficient and reliable railroad service since 1984. BRG interconnects with Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads for northbound cargo, and with Kansas City Southern de Mexico for southbound cargo. ■ THE PORT THAT WORKS