The Eastport Port Authority approved preliminary plans for the new bulk conveyor system at Estes Head, including a new bulk storage area and new warehouse, at its meeting on January 19. The conveyor system, which will allow for the loading of products such as wood chips and pellets, is being funded through a state bond issue, approved last November, that included $4.5 million for the port. Eastport Port Director Chris Gardner is hoping that the new bulk conveyor system will be ready for operation by November.

The plans call for an expanded bulk storage area in the area where the debarker operation formerly was located, to the east of the road that leads down to the terminal and just south of the first warehouse on that road. Ledge, up to 25 feet high, will have to be removed to level the area. The land then could also be used as a flat storage area for other cargoes such as wind blades.

Plans also call for a new bulk storage warehouse that would be 250' x 250', or about twice the size of the smaller, existing warehouses, and could hold perhaps an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 tons of pellets. It will be located just east of the long Rubb warehouse and abut the bulk storage area. Funding for the warehouse is being sought under the state stimulus program for ports, and an announcement on funding should be made by early February.

An overhead trip conveyor will be used to load wood pellets or other bulk cargoes into the warehouse from the storage area. The main conveyor system, which will be bi-directional, will extend from the new warehouse to a point by the bulk storage area and then turn and extend down onto the pier. The configuration will allow for cargo to be moved in either direction from ship, storage area and warehouse.

Board member Bob Peacock, who is one of the ship's pilots for the port, noted that it could be possible to load both a large and a small ship, docked at the inside berth of the pier, at the same time, with one taking pulp and the other loading pellets.

Plans also call for removing the light stanchions on the pier, to be replaced with other lighting, and moving the security gate up the road to where the bulk storage area will extend. A new access road will be needed for the Cooke Aquaculture plant that is next to the Estes Head terminal, Gardner noted.

Gardner said the bulk conveyor system investment "has put ripples in the pond, and people have expressed an interest, with us as the epicenter." Two more companies now have approached the port authority about shipping wood pellets through the port. One is a manufacturer in Texas that would produce the pellets in this area, and the other is a brokerage firm in England that would arrange for shipments to Europe from suppliers in the northeastern U.S. Fulghum Fibres, which has a wood-chipping facility in Baileyville, also is interested in shipping through Eastport.

"There will be new opportunities for the port because we've made this investment in automation," Gardner says.

Other developments

The port authority's new tugboat, the Abaco, has arrived and is currently undergoing maintenance work at the Boat School. An offer of $87,000 was made on the tugboat Pleon that the port authority is selling, but the board decided to reject the offer because the port authority was asked to hold a preferred ship's mortgage on the vessel. The board indicated a preference for cash offers.

Cianbro Corporation is "very optimistic" about the proposal to bring an oil drilling platform to the Estes Head terminal so that work, including repair of its self-propulsion units, can be done on the platform. Gardner expects a final decision will be made within the next few weeks.

Gardner also expects to hear in early February on the application for federal Recovery Act funding for restoring and extending the rail line from Calais to Perry.

Board member Jett Peterson reported that a meeting to discuss cruise ship possibilities was held on January 12. She noted that people in St. Andrews are interested in moving ahead with plans to make Passamaquoddy Bay a destination area for cruise ships. One cruise ship, the 120-passenger Cruise West vessel Spirit of Oceanus, is expected to come to Eastport this year, arriving in September.

Gardner reported that a 2007 port security grant for $65,000 is now being released. The funds were to be for a new automated gated entrance at Estes Head, but because of the delay in the release of funds, other design options may be considered.

During the board's annual meeting, John Sullivan was reelected as chair, Jett Peterson was elected vice chair, Bob Wallace was elected secretary and Dean Pike was reelected as treasurer.