WILMINGTON – Gov. Roy Cooper recently toured the Port of Wilmington, the new South Gate Container Complex, the port’s container berth, and a Neo-Panamax crane, highlighting North Carolina’s infrastructure and trade investment strategies for long-term development plans.
Wilmington opened the South Gate Container Complex on Feb. 14, enabling the NC State Ports Authority to increase container volume at the Port of Wilmington and advance trucker turn-times on the East Coast.
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The $26 million project increased the port’s number of inbound and outbound lanes to help the flow of truck traffic. The project integrates new terminal operating systems and gate operating systems that optimize security and increases the number of outbound radiation portal monitoring lanes. The Port of Wilmington has three Neo-Panamax cranes, accommodating some of the largest vessels on the East Coast for loading and unloading purposes.
“The increase in capacity at the Port of Wilmington brings North Carolina better paying jobs, helps ease supply chain problems and helps reduce the cost of goods to every day working families,” Gov. Cooper said in a press release.
The project’s completion has added annual potential shipping container capacity from 600,000 20-foot equivalent units to 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units. The Port of Wilmington is responsible for container cargo and general cargo.
The NC State Ports Authority and the State of North Carolina have funded several capital improvement projects. These investments will help alleviate ongoing supply chain issues long-term.
Gov. Cooper has helped the state’s infrastructure with investments that move products more efficiently. The North Carolina Ports Authority annually accumulates over $60 million in revenue. Based on a 2018 study, the authority supports 87,700 jobs, $687.2 million in tax revenue and $15.4 billion in economic output.
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