The Virginia Port Authority has extended its operating control of the Port of Richmond until 2056.
The Virginia Port Authority will operate and invest in the city-owned Port of Richmond for another 40 years after officials signed a long-term lease extension on Monday.
The state agency unveiled two of its latest investments in the facility, located on the James River in central Virginia, including a $4.2 million, 350-ton mobile harbor crane that will speed loading and unloading of the container barge that shuttles between Port of Virginia marine terminals in Hampton Roads, and Richmond. The crane was purchased with a federal Department of Transportation grant.
The other upgrade is a new barge with 50 percent more capacity to carry containers on a single trip.
The Virginia Port Authority has leased and operated the Port of Richmond since 2011, essentially annexing the near-dormant facility from the city in an effort to drive more international container-on-barge traffic there to reduce highway congestion and create a second intermodal hub in the center of the state similar to its truck-rail transfer station to the west, in Front Royal. The existing agreement was set to expire this summer.
The Richmond City Council approved the new lease last September.
VPA has driven more container traffic to the Central Virginia river port in recent years via a container-on-barge service. In fiscal year 2013, the barge service transported more than 6,400 containers. Volume increased by 49 percent to more than 9,400 containers in fiscal year 2014. And barge volumes increased another 49 percent in fiscal 2015, finishing the year with more than 14,000 containers transported, according to the port authority.
The barge operation has increased from a twice-weekly service to offering three trips per week, with an average of 200 container moves per week. Ten ocean carriers now offer bills of lading directly to the Port of Richmond. To further improve efficiency, the Port of Virginia has also made rail improvements to the 121-acre barge terminal.
Port officials say they can add another day of barge service to Richmond if demand materializes.
The VPA said the new investments will increase efficiency at the Port of Richmond and make it easier to market the facility to ocean carriers and shippers. Among its advantages are storage space, service by two Class I railroads and proximity to I-95, the major north-south highway on the East Coast.
The “lease term allows us to begin implementing a long-term strategic plan for Richmond Marine Terminal that includes reinvesting in the terminal, collaborating with the city on marketing the facility and positioning RMT so that it becomes a catalyst for job creation, investment and economic development in the Greater Richmond area,” John Reinhart, the CEO of the Virginia Port Authority, said in a statement.
City of Richmond leases port to state for 40 years
