While cargo shipped through the Port of Eastport this past year was only 2% of what had been shipped in the top years in the past, with only one ship being loaded and the longshoremen being let go, the revenue-based quasi-municipal corporation still managed a net income of over $100,000 in 2022.
      "It was a horrible year last year," says Chris Gardner, the longtime executive director of the Eastport Port Authority. "We're still living in the shadow of the COVID world. A lot has changed globally. Global markets got flipped on their ear, and we are globally connected."
      While the port authority has "weathered a tremendous storm," he says, "the good news is that we're on the way out, the diversification of revenues has proved itself valuable, we came out reorganized, and I think 2023 will be a rebound year for the port."
      Along with how markets changed during the pandemic, Gardner notes another event that could not have been predicted, which was the sudden need for pulp at the paper mill in Jay, after its pulp digester ruptured in April 2020. "Both of those were unforeseen, and there was no way for us to plan for them," he says. Of the pandemic, he comments, "Nobody saw this coming, and nobody could address the ramifications of it. The whole world went into a global depression, global trade went down, and then the Jay mill's digester exploded." Because of that, the Woodland Pulp mill, which has been the only source of exports through the Port of Eastport in recent years, has been shipping over 5,000 tons of pulp a month by truck to Jay, which reduced any pulp shipments through the port.
      Reliance on one product for the port has always been risky, and Gardner says that his push during his 15 years as executive director has been for the port authority to diversify, noting that the port has shipped cows to Turkey, imported wind blades and road salt and has worked for years on wood chip exports to Europe using its phytosanitation equipment. "We're constantly trying to reinvent ourselves."
      He also pushed for real estate development for the port authority and notes that, with a change in the port authority's charter a few years ago, it is now able to obtain bond rates instead of commercial rates on its loans, so the port authority's lease payments on the Coast Guard station building, with refinancing, were able to end in 2019, years earlier than anticipated. The station is now a revenue generator for the port authority, which owns the building. Other lease payments come from its own office building, through U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Ocean Renewable Power Company, Maine Sea Grant and the local chamber of commerce. There are also lease payments from Federal Marine Terminals and Costigan Chip at the port terminal and from the Passamaquoddy Water District for its office building. Those total annual payments amount to over $100,000.
      Since the residents of Eastport could be responsible for the port authority's debt if it stopped operating, some residents have expressed concern about the amount of that debt. Gardner notes that the port authority currently has three loans, for its office building, the conveyor system and bulk storage yard and the rebuilding of the breakwater, which total just over $1.7 million. Annual loan payments total under $200,000.
      But Gardner is not concerned about the port authority going bankrupt and ceasing to exist. He points out that the port authority has also reduced its overhead expenses, by streamlining its personnel and selling its tugboat operations to McAllister Towing and Transportation. Previously, it was spending $50,000 to $75,000 annually on tug maintenance costs. In 2022, the port authority's expenses dropped by more than $200,000.
      "We have to be set up to weather storms," Gardner says. "We've had three horrendous years, but we diversified revenues and shed expenses. The port authority is here, still investing in the community and still paying our bills."
      In addition to just keeping afloat, the port authority will be undertaking more harbor improvements soon, Gardner says, with funding expected for the rehabilitation of the fish pier, the building of a breakwater wing wall to protect boats in the inner basin and the replacement of pilings on the piers. Along with the completed breakwater rebuild, "we will have updated all the major water infrastructure and should be set for the next 50 years," he points out.

Future shipments
      As for future shipping possibilities, Gardner expects there will be changes in the markets in 2023 that will lead to an increase in overseas pulp shipments through the port. Also, with the port now having a mobile harbor crane, domestic pulp shipments by barge are expected. "I think the world is waking back up and some normalcy will return to global markets and the returning of opportunities overseas."
      Scott Beal, spokesman for the Woodland Pulp mill, also believes there will be a rebound in overseas pulp shipments. He says that, with the announced closure of the Jay mill in the coming months, "the domestic demand for our pulp will be impacted. This will have a corresponding effect of requiring us to pursue other potential domestic business opportunities. This will also likely have our mill's sales team exploring the potential to once again participate in the export pulp market with some volume, but undetermined at this point in time."
      A pulp shipment overseas through the port is now scheduled in January, the first since last September. Tom Critchley, general manager for Federal Marine Terminals, the port terminal operator, says an initial estimate for tonnage this year is at least 10,000 metric tons a quarter being shipped overseas through the port. As for bringing back longshoremen to the port, he says that some have moved on since being laid off in February, with others having accepted an early retirement package in October 2020, but he believes the port will have enough labor, between "new guys" and longer term workers, as FMT has provided a generous health insurance package.
      Concerning domestic shipments using barges loaded in Eastport, Beal says that project "is being actively pursued in the hopes this mode of shipping will prove to be economically viable."
      Gardner notes that the port is also looking at container shipments, using the new crane. The shipments would be of products from Maine and the Canadian Maritimes for export overseas.
      Also, Maine has started to import wood chips, and Gardner believes the port "will absolutely become part of that." Beal confirms that a shipment of wood chips through the port for the mill is scheduled for late February. He says, "Woodland Pulp recognizes the port has assets that can be utilized to handle wood chips. It is no secret that 2022 was a very difficult year in obtaining adequate fiber supplies for our pulp mill. We have expanded our purchasing circle to include the importation of fiber." He says that the shipment of chips "will augment our current supply, thus allowing us to meet the needs of our pulp customers. This vessel will also serve as a test of the logistics and efficiency of the port in handling this shipment."
      Concerning another potential business for the port, the assembling of components for offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine, Gardner notes that the state advisory committee for offshore wind visited the port about a month and a half ago and was "highly impressed. Our depth of water cannot be matched." He says about 40 to 50 feet of depth is needed for the platforms, and the Estes Head terminal has 64 feet of depth, the "deepest natural seaport in the continental U.S." He adds, "I'm 100% confident that when offshore wind comes in the state there will be a part to be played by Eastport. We're the only place with the water they need ready to go now."
      He also expects that because of limitations being placed at some Maine ports on cruise ship passenger numbers, with Bar Harbor limiting the number to 1,000 disembarking per day, some of the smaller cruise ships being affected will come to Eastport. "As things tighten, the smaller ships will lose space at other ports." He says cruise lines with ships in the 400- to 500-foot range, with a capacity of 150 to 350 passengers, have been contacting the port authority, as Eastport boasts two piers, while some ports don't have any, with the breakwater "perfectly situated downtown." Also, the port can clear international passengers, unlike most other ports in the state. He says that two 300-foot cruise ships are looking at laying up in Eastport this spring for up to two months. "The Riviera layup has put us on the map," he says, referring to the dormant cruise ship that stayed at the Eastport breakwater during the summer of 2020.

Confidence in longterm future
      As for the port's longterm future, Gardner says the port authority last updated its 10-year strategic plan in 2011, but he expects that one will be worked on this year. And he points out that the largest international dry bulk shipping company in Canada, Fednav, is "still looking at Eastport as a good bet." He observes, "The port owes a debt of gratitude to Fednav," as its subsidiary, Federal Marine Terminals, has operated the port in Eastport for over 40 years, and the company has "kept its commitment to this community." FMT's Critchley comments, "I think things are starting to pick up, and FMT is still committed to the port. I think things will come back."
      As for Gardner's own plans, while he is now working for the engineering firm of Player Design Inc. of Presque Isle, he is continuing as the port authority's executive director on a month-by-month basis. And he says, "I will make sure the port is in a good position before my departure."
      Gardner observes that in 2007, when he was hired as the executive director, the port authority had only $160,000 in the bank, was worth just $3 million and had $2 million in debt. Now, even after three years of the pandemic, it has almost $1 million in the bank, is worth $50 million and has less than $2 million in debt, and he points out that most of that is "a community debt" for the rebuilding of the breakwater.
      "For the last 15 years, we have been very good stewards of the people's money and trust," he says. "The port authority is in a much stronger position today than when I took over, and that is at the end of three years that nobody thought possible."