The Diamond State Port Corp. board voted to approve an agreement to lease the Port of Wilmington with an eye toward building a container facility on the Delaware River at the former Chemours Edgewood site.
The deal is valued at $580 million and has the potential bring hundreds if not thousands of jobs to the state and region.
The agreement would also get the state out from under capital costs needed in modernizing the port on the Christina River. Gulftainer would also pay millions of dollars a year in lease payments.
Diamond State posted a loss of $6 million for fiscal years 2015 through 2017. The state earlier took over port operations from the City of Wilmington, which lacked the financial resources to operate the site.
The Port of Wilmington has been under pressure by competitors that include a new port in southern New Jersey and modernization of Philadelphia ports. So far, the Delaware port has been able to hold on to its lucrative banana operations. The port also imports salt and steel, while exporting vehicles.
The container port is needed on the Delaware River itself for large container ships that are no commonplace. Much of the Port of Wilmington is at the confluence with the Christina River.
“Thank you to members of the Diamond State Port Corporation Board for their vote on Friday to approve this agreement with Gulftainer to expand the Port of Wilmington. We believe this agreement will protect and expand access to good-paying, blue-collar jobs at the Port, and will result in significant new investment in one of Delaware’s most important employment centers,” said Gov. John Carney.
Carney continued, “Members of the General Assembly still must approve the agreement for it to take effect, and I look forward to continued discussions with legislators. As we all know, the Port of Wilmington has long been a center of good-paying jobs that stabilize families and the neighborhoods where they live. Creating even more of those jobs is central to Delaware’s economic success.”
Carney and Secretary of State Jeff Bullock were instrumental in negotiating the agreement with the private company based in the United Arab Emirates. Gulftainer already operates a port in Florida.
News of the agreement brought opposition from conservative groups that cited the failed Dubai ports deal of more than a decade ago that involved a government entity in the Emirates operating ports.
At the time, issues of port security killed the proposal, which was back by then-President George W. Bush.
The groups again cited security concerns and alleged ties to terrorist groups that could smuggle weapons into ports. So far, their efforts have not appeared to gain much traction in Dover.
This time around, the port proposal has support from the Longshoremen’s union. The union sunk a previous proposal to lease the port to energy transportation giant Kinder Morgan under the administration of Gov. Jack Markell.
Businesses at the port were also concerned that Kinder Morgan would not be receptive to their needs and lacked the expertise needed in running the area.
