On Wednesday afternoon, the MSC Catania gracefully slid up to its berth at Jacksonville’s Blount Island Terminal.  The 983-foot, 4,900 TEU vessel represents the largest ship to ever call upon the port.  The large vessel did have to come in “light” due to the restrictive depth of the channel.  She will also not be part of a regular rotation at the port, as she was filling in for another vessel that ran aground.  Jacksonville hopes to be able to allocate a portion of the Stimulus funds to further deepen the channel to 40-feet.  The arrival of such a large ship is a momentous day for Jacksonville as they work towards becoming a major est coast player.

“You’re getting a snapshot of what Jacksonville can be,” said Rick Ferrin, the Jacksonville Port Authority’s executive director.

As large as the MSC Catania is, she is still medium size by today’s standards.  The MSC Catania is 300 meters long and 37.8 meters wide, drawing 14 meters.  As a comparison, the Emma Maersk, one of the largest container vessels in the world, is 397 meters long and 56 meters wide and draws 15.5 meters.  Even today, larger ships are being built.  Even with the additional dredging, Jacksonville has a long way to go before the Emma Maersk graces their terminals.

The Jacksonville Business Journal reported yesterday that Mitsui estimates the final bill for the necessary channel dredging at JaxPort could reach $1 billion.  Dennis Kelly, general manager at the Mitsui Jacksonville terminal, said the St. Johns River dredging is necessary to accommodate the newer, larger container ships.  This need becomes even more critical in 2014 when the newly widened Panama Canal opens, allowing those larger ships to transit.  Although Jacksonville will compete with Savannah for the dredging funds, the new nuclear aircraft carrier base at Mayport will strengthen its argument.  

In an economy where we hear on a daily basis about hundreds of billions, or even trillion’s, of dollars being handed out by the government, it is easy to be lulled into thinking that a $1 billion dredging project is small.  This is still a huge undertaking for the Corps of Engineers and these funds won’t come without a significant struggle.  However, a 50′ channel depth seems to be the magic number and if you have it you have a significant competitive advantage.  When the big ships come there will only be a few mega-ports on the east coast that these ships will call on.  Jacksonville’s ability to obtain these funds will go a long way in helping to determine whether it can become one of these “winners”.

On January 13th, 2009 the TraPac Container Terminal at Dames Point in Jacksonville greeted its first ship.  The CMA CGM Virginia was the first calling vessel.  This represents a momentous day for the Port of Jacksonville and officially adds another player to the roster of East Coast Ports.