Virginia Port Reopens Portsmouth Marine Terminal

Portsmouth Marine Terminal. The Port of Virginia has marked an important milestone as Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT), closed for nearly three years, reopens to cargo operations. At 8 a.m. local
time on Monday, September 15 the terminal will begin receiving trucks carrying containers for export. “Sustained growth in our container business necessitates PMT’s return to service and is a sign of health forThe Port of Virginia,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA).“Reopening the berth at PMT to container operations is the first phase of a larger plan to establish the terminal as a multi-use facility and improve service to our customers.” The first vessel call is scheduled for early October and from that point forward the 30-acre operation will process between 75,000 and 100,000 containers annually.

The operation will be “wheeled,” or containers-onchassis; there will be no stacked containers except for those units in the empty yard. Navis N4 is the terminal operating system. The terminal is owned by the VPA, will be operated by Virginia International Terminals, LLC, and members of the International Longshoremen’s Association will handle the vessel, gate and terminal services there. Sworn VPA port police officers, teaming with professional contractors, will secure the terminal.

“Reconstituting a portion of PMT will provide some relief at Virginia International Gateway (VIG) and NIT, as both of those terminals are busy and pushing their capacity limits,” Reinhart said. “PMT is a deep-water facility that will serve an important role for our purposes, but over the long-term as a facility that handles many different types of cargo: bulk, breakbulk and ro-ro.”