Port of Virginia handles 238,567 TEUs in October 2016
As peak cargo season continues, The Port of Virginia is adding to its record books. In October, the port handled 238,567 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), making it the single-busiest month in the port’s history, the company said in its press release.
In comparison with last October, TEU volumes are up 2.2 percent; rail units up 13 percent; truck volume down 2.5 percent; and volume at Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) is up 52 percent. Moreover, October was the second-busiest month in the port’s history in terms of rail volume handled and it was the best October for barge volume on the 64 Express since the service started in 2008.
October marks the eighth consecutive month of TEU volumes exceeding 210,000 units and that trend will be supported, Reinhart said, with the recent announcement that The Port of Virginia figures heavily into the schedule of the Ocean Alliance and The Alliance, each of which is a partnership of ocean carriers. Both alliances will begin operation in April 2017 and each will bring several new Asia and trans-Atlantic services to Virginia, including multiple first-in and last-out vessel calls.
Year-to-date, the port’s TEU volume is up 2 percent; rail units up 12 percent; Virginia Inland Port volume up 3 percent; and Richmond Marine Terminal volume, up 32 percent.
Reinhart said the focus “will be maintaining momentum” as the port undertakes a pair of large construction projects designed to improve efficiency at Norfolk International Terminals and Virginia International Gateway and increase annual throughput capacity by 40 percent.
The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) is a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The VPA owns and through its private operating subsidiary, Virginia International Terminals, LLC (VIT), operates four general cargo facilities Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County. The VPA leases Virginia International Gateway and the Port of Richmond. In fiscal 2013, The Port of Virginia provided more than 374,000 jobs and generated $60.3 billion in total economic impact throughout the Commonwealth.
