2 min read October 2022 — Invest: spoke with CFO of JAXPORT Beth McCague about the port’s role in the broader logistics community. In a wide-ranging discussion, she covered the deepening of the port’s harbor, partnerships with the community and tenants and a focus on sustainability. “The strength of the logistics community in Jacksonville is our efficiency to be able to access talent, information, ideas and solutions,” she said.
What are some ways JAXPORT has become more efficient?
We’ve worked very hard over the past couple of years to maintain our excellent customer service. As a landlord port, we do everything we can to ensure our equipment is operating correctly and ready for tenant use 24/7. When we think about efficiencies, we have been a leader here by remaining congestion-free. Shippers love that they can access our berths without delay, load and unload and get back out to their next port of call. We’re pleased to remain at that high level of service and continue to offer such efficiency to shippers from around the world.
On Blount Island, three of our cranes are electric, which is more eco-friendly than traditional diesel-powered cranes. When the cranes were ordered, we worked with another independent agency, an electric authority, to build a substation to power up to 10 cranes. We have three cranes now, and three more are coming in the spring of 2023. When they arrive, we will have six post-Panamax electric cranes at that terminal, with the ability to simultaneously accommodate two post-Panamax container ships. We are quite excited because the cranes are supremely efficient, in addition to being environmentally friendlier. With the substation in place, we have the capacity to add four additional eco-friendly cranes in the future, giving us a total of ten.
What does it take to ensure the port does not become congested as some others have?
There are several factors, including a strong labor force, available trucking and modern infrastructure – all of which Jacksonville has in spades. We have an outstanding workforce, excellent relationships with our labor unions, and a trucking industry that has never missed a beat. We’re able to transfer cargo and move it out of the port to its destination seamlessly. Because of this, once the ship gets to the berth, it’s easier and more efficient to get the cargo to where it needs to go. Our most significant improvement in efficiency is the deepening of our harbor to 47 feet to keep us competitive with other East Coast ports. We’re so delighted that on May 23, we cut the ribbon and completed deepening through Blount Island two years ahead of schedule and significantly under budget, due in large part to our unique funding model and the efficiencies of the vendors who provided the dredging service for us. For the last two years, the carriers have been asking when the harbor deepening would be finished. Now that it is complete, shippers want to come to Jacksonville and take advantage of our efficiency. In the past 18 months, we’ve added three new container services, expanding Jacksonville’s reach to Asia, Mexico and Canada, as well as major trade hubs in the Dominican Republic and The Bahamas.
What impact will the harbor deepening have?
The deepening of the harbor makes us more competitive with ports on the East Coast. It is such an amazing success story because of our ability to get it done in a short period of time and without incident from any standpoint. It never negatively affected commerce, trade or the environment. It was a beautifully completed project. But the real value is what it will do for North Florida and the state over the next 30, 40, 50 years. Growing the port and providing jobs is such a rewarding experience and makes everyone here feel so productive as a part of this community. Completing it was a momentous occasion, and I can’t say enough about the opportunity just to have been involved in it. A deeper harbor provides tremendous long-term value for the citizens in this part of the state and throughout the Southeastern region of the country.
What do you believe will bring the supply chain back to equilibrium?
That’s a very good question and one that everyone is asking. The supply chain disruption really became apparent to most people when they couldn’t find what they wanted in grocery and department stores. From a macroeconomic level, supply and demand must return to equilibrium. We’ve had such a strong consumer demand for goods which has driven demand for imports. Supply has been slower than usual, partly due to factories shutting down due to the pandemic. When those factories can catch up and begin producing at their previous levels, supply will increase and meet demand. But one of two things has to happen in the short term: either demand has to subside, or supply has to increase. From a practical level, one thing that could help the supply chain immediately is for shippers and ocean carriers to reevaluate their port selections — looking at where they can get into port and discharge their cargo in a way that quickly gets that cargo to the end user. When shipping companies utilize ports such as JAXPORT that don’t have any wait to get into berths, it helps smooth out the supply chain for everyone.
What community partnerships are you involved in?
We participate in many community activities and entities. One of our new initiatives in the past year is a collaboration with Jacksonville University (JU) called Connected: A St. Johns River Educational Partnership. JU has an outstanding marine science program. We have a three-year agreement with their professors and educators to develop an educational program for schools and community groups. Through the program, river experts share the value of the St. Johns River from recreational, environmental, and commercial standpoints. This program educates the community about the importance of each element and the significance of the river to Jacksonville. The program also outlines simple steps everyone can take to improve the health of the river, actions like reducing the amount of fertilizer used in lawns. We’re excited to partner with JU to bring river education into Northeast Florida classrooms.
What are you focusing on now that you weren’t five years ago?
We are working very hard on partnerships with our tenants, with whom we have great relationships, and on public-private partnerships. Some of our tenants are working on modernization along with us. SSA Atlantic initiated a modernization at our deep-water berths and is expanding from 50 acres to 93 acres by the end of 2024. They are also densifying their operations and bringing in hybrid equipment and new eco-friendly electric cranes. We are working very diligently to support them with their construction project. That’s all about helping them create more efficiency and meet some of their goals. Crowley is another good example; by 2050 they want to achieve net-zero emissions. We are working with them on that. In fact, we are working collaboratively with them and SSA on a federal grant application to bring in more electrified and hybrid equipment. Even though we’ve always had very good relationships with our tenants, we’re working much more closely and collaboratively with them to achieve joint goals of increasing efficiency while making port operations cleaner and greener.
The strength of the logistics community in Jacksonville is our ability to access talent, information, ideas and solutions. It’s incredible how all the pieces work together to create an efficient transportation ecosystem.
How is JAXPORT setting the precedent for industry innovation?
Jacksonville is a world leader in the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a clean marine fuel. Our tenants Crowley and TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico made significant investments in LNG-powered ships. We have fueling capabilities both on-dock and near-dock and in the past year, ships ported elsewhere have called here for our LNG fueling capabilities. We’re very proud of the fact that we have a global leadership position in the clean fuel realm. Our collaborative approach of working directly with tenants will have far more benefits in the near term than working independently. Bringing in new electric cranes and building plans to determine how and when we can provide electrical power to more of our berths will be the leading edge.
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