To serve larger container ships coming into the Port of Wilmington, N.C. Ports is seeking to move forward with the second phase of its turning basin expansion.
Phase two of the turning basin expansion is part of the port’s $200 million capital improvements plan, according to Bethany Welch, spokeswoman for N.C. Ports. The second phase of the expansion is needed to allow the largest vessels calling the East Coast to “safely and more efficiently turn around in Wilmington’s harbor,” she said.
To accommodate the growth, the turning basin expansion plan is to increase the basin from the 1,400 feet that it is today to 1,500 feet, said Brian Clark, N.C. Ports’ chief operating officer, at the recent Cold Chain Summit held last week at the Wilmington Convention Center.
That expansion would be able to handle to handle up to a 14,000 TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) vessel. Cost estimates for the basin expansion are still ongoing, Welch said.
As part of the capital improvement plan, the first phase of the turning basin expansion was completed in August 2016, which included the removal of a bulk pier and dredging to expand the turning basin from 1,200 feet to 1,400 feet.
With ongoing berth improvements at the port (repairs and upgrades to its concrete docks), the first phase of the turning basin expansion and the addition of new cranes, the size of the ships arriving at the Port of Wilmington have been growing this year.
The largest to ever be serviced by the port, recently came through in late October.
