Northwest Seaport Alliance
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The Northwest Seaport Alliance is a
port authority In Canada and the United States, a port authority (less commonly a port district) is a governmental or quasi-governmental public authority for a special-purpose district usually formed by a legislative body (or bodies) to operate ports and other ...
based in the
Puget Sound region The Puget Sound region is a coastal area of the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. state of Washington, including Puget Sound, the Puget Sound lowlands, and the surrounding region roughly west of the Cascade Range and east of the Olympic Mountai ...
of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, comprising the seaports of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
and Tacoma in
Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washingto ...
. The combined port authority is the third largest cargo port in the United States and by container volume. The two seaports, which had been rivals for most of the 20th century but lost ground to nearby ports in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
, proposed a merger of marine cargo operations in 2014. A
public development authority In the U.S. state of Washington, a public development authority (most commonly PDA; also known as a public corporation) is a government-owned corporation. They are established under RCW 35.21.730.Federal Maritime Commission The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent federal agency based in Washington, D.C. that is responsible for the regulation of oceanborne international transportation of the U.S. It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei. Hi ...
, resulting in the formation of The Northwest Seaport Alliance on August 4, 2015.


History


Background

In 1911, the Washington State Legislature authorized the creation of port districts through public referendums. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma were formed separately in 1911 and 1918, respectively, to establish public control of municipal waterfronts. The two ports, located apart, facilitated exports of the state's natural resources and imports from
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...
, which intensified during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
at the end of the decade. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the ports were used for military
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...
s and other wartime uses, reverting to civilian trade afterwards. The rise of cargo
containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the p ...
in the 1960s helped offset declining traffic to the Port of Seattle, leading to a $80 million modernization and expansion program begun in 1968. The Port of Tacoma debuted its own cargo container-ready facilities in 1970, and gradually lured away several large shipping lines from Seattle through the 1990s, including Alaska-based
Totem Ocean Trailer Express TOTE Maritime is an owner/operator of domestic shipping in the United States. They specialize in moving cargo between North America to Puerto Rico and Alaska. TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico was the owner of '' El Faro'', a large container ship that s ...
(1976),
SeaLand SeaLand, a division of the Maersk Group, is an American intra-regional container shipping company headquartered in Miramar, Florida with representation in 29 countries across the Americas. The company offers ocean and intermodal services using ...
(1983),
Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line ...
(1985),
K Line is a Japanese transportation company. It owns a fleet that includes dry cargo ships (bulk carriers), container ships, liquefied natural gas carriers, Ro-Ro ships, tankers, and container terminals. It used to be the fourteenth largest contai ...
(1988), and
Evergreen Marine Evergreen Marine Corporation () is a Taiwanese container transportation and shipping company that is headquartered in Luzhu District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. With over 150 container ships, it is part of the Evergreen Group conglomerate of transpor ...
(1991). The Port of Seattle's largest line,
Hyundai Merchant Marine HMM Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Hyundai Merchant Marine, is a South Korean container transportation and shipping company. Overview HMM moves the largest portion of South Korea's exports, becoming the number one Korean national container car ...
, moved to a new, $65 million terminal in Tacoma in 1996. By the turn of the 21st century, Tacoma eclipsed Seattle to become the largest port in the state and 7th largest in the nation, but fell behind ports in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
and nearby
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...
. In 2009, Seattle regained its title as the larger of the ports, but both suffered losses in overall cargo volume and revenue. Tacoma lost Maersk to Seattle after Maersk signed a vessel sharing agreement with CMA-CGM in 2009, but three years later attracted an alliance of three major international shippers from Seattle who had comprised 20 percent of cargo for the port.


Merger proposals

At a 1985 meeting of the Port Development Task Force of the
Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is a private, membership-based organization that represents economic development and the economic interests of its corporate members in the metro region of Seattle, Washington. Its members include most ...
, visiting
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...
executive director
Peter C. Goldmark Peter Carl Goldmark (born Péter Károly Goldmark; December 2, 1906 – December 7, 1977) was a Hungarian-American engineer who, during his time with Columbia Records, was instrumental in developing the long-playing microgroove 33 rpm phonogra ...
suggested that the merger of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma would give the region "decades of advantage" over competitors in Southern California. The Port of Tacoma called a merger unnecessary and costly to their city, citing lower costs to expand in Tacoma and scaring off possible operators with higher fees; the Port of Seattle stated they were uninterested in a merger unless they could guarantee an equal partnership with Tacoma. The two ports met in the late 1990s to discuss collaboration or a potential merger, amid the consolidating of shipping lines (favoring centralized
distribution center A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to c ...
s in fewer ports) and the merging of the state's railroad system into BNSF Railway. In 2012, Port of Seattle staff estimated that rate competition with Tacoma had reduced cargo revenue by $35 million annually (approximately $70,000 per acre), based on comparisons with the
Port of Oakland The Port of Oakland is a major container ship facility located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay. It was the first major port on the Pacific Coast of the United States to build terminals for container ships. As of 2011 it was the f ...
, which has no competing port in the region. Both ports were supported by taxpayer subsidies by their respective counties and lost revenue as shipping and terminal operators used their rivalry to negotiate lower rates. Both factors led to the Washington State Legislature proposing a merger of the ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett in 2008, which stalled after the Port of Tacoma opposed. Competition for the two ports intensified in the late 2000s and early 2010s, coming primarily from the new Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, an amalgamation of three Vancouver-area ports, as well as Los Angeles and the
East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a radio station in Co. Wicklow, Ireland * East Coast Swing, a f ...
(as a result of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a Channel ( ...
expansion project). In 2014, the market share of ports in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
tripled and overtook the combined traffic of Seattle and Tacoma for the first time. The port commissions began talks of a merger in early 2014, including an agreement to share rates and other information under federal oversight and an "unusual" joint announcement for the transfer of a local shipping line to Tacoma.


Formation of alliance

On October 7, 2014, the ports of Seattle and Tacoma formally announced their intention to move management of their marine cargo businesses to a joint alliance in March, ending decades of competition, because of increased threats from British Columbia and other ports. A full merger, including the two port commissions, was opposed by Tacoma, who feared that the more populous
King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
would have more votes on the combined commission than Pierce County, who were more dependent on the cargo port. In March 2015, the plan was pushed back to August while working on specifics of the alliance, including a decision on which
legal entity In law, a legal person is any person or 'thing' (less ambiguously, any legal entity) that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and so on. The reason fo ...
it would fall under. The Washington State Legislature and Governor
Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee (; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician, lawyer, and economist who has served as the 23rd List of governors of Washington, governor of Washington since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
approved the creation of a port development authority, similar to Washington's existing
public development authority In the U.S. state of Washington, a public development authority (most commonly PDA; also known as a public corporation) is a government-owned corporation. They are established under RCW 35.21.730.Federal Maritime Commission The United States Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is an independent federal agency based in Washington, D.C. that is responsible for the regulation of oceanborne international transportation of the U.S. It is chaired by Daniel B. Maffei. Hi ...
(FMC). The FMC approved the planned alliance on July 23, 2015. On August 4, 2015, at the
Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-larges ...
city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, the two port commissions unanimously approved a formal agreement creating The Northwest Seaport Alliance. Under the agreement, properties from both ports would be placed in a common pool and the operations would be overseen by both elected port commissions. Port of Tacoma CEO John Wolfe was selected to be the alliance's first
chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...
while remaining with Tacoma. The combined port authority became the third largest cargo port in the United States and by container volume.


Early years

On February 29, 2016, The Northwest Seaport Alliance invited the CMA CGM ''Benjamin Franklin'', the largest cargo ship to visit the United States, to dock at the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18. The move was used to test the terminal's capabilities in handling a ship of that size (in the range of 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs) and promote expansion of Terminal 5 into a facility to handle larger ships. In April 2016, the alliance approved $141 million in funding to upgrade piers and cranes at the Port of Tacoma's Husky Terminal. The alliance celebrated its first anniversary in August 2016 with a new joint operations center and continued growth in traffic, despite a drop in shipping caused by slower growth in Asia. Later that month,
Hanjin Shipping Hanjin Shipping Co., Ltd. was a South Korean integrated logistics and container transport company. Prior to its liquidation, Hanjin Shipping was South Korea's largest container line and one of the world's top ten container carriers in terms of ca ...
, a major operator in Seattle, filed for bankruptcy and was barred from the Port of Seattle over fears of unpaid terminal fees. The bankruptcy sent the global shipping industry into a panic, with several Hanjin ships anchored off the Pacific coast awaiting approval to unload cargo. In December, Hanjin's Terminal 46 in Seattle was sold to an affiliate of
Mediterranean Shipping Company Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. (MSC) is an international shipping line founded by Gianluigi Aponte in Italy in 1970, with headquarters in Switzerland since 1978. The privately held company is owned by the Aponte family. It has been the larg ...
for $78 million; the move was opposed by the Port of Seattle, who filed a request to block the sale over a lack of correspondence about the new lease and security deposit.


Governance

The Northwest Seaport Alliance is a port development authority created by chapter 53.57 of the
Revised Code of Washington The Revised Code of Washington (RCW) is the compilation of all permanent laws currently in force in the U.S. state of Washington. Temporary laws such as appropriations acts are excluded. It is published by the Washington State Statute Law Commi ...
. It is governed by the port commissions of Seattle and Tacoma, whose members are elected by the citizens of
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...
and Pierce counties, respectively, to four-year terms. The alliance is a separate legal entity from the Port of Seattle and Port of Tacoma, for contracting, auditing and reporting purposes. The Northwest Seaport Alliance budget for 2017 consists of $96.8 million in operating expenses, $93.4 million in revenue, and a separate capital expenses fund of $270.4 million.


Economy

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma funded a joint
economic impact An economic impact analysis (EIA) examines the effect of an event on the economy in a specified area, ranging from a single neighborhood to the entire globe. It usually measures changes in business revenue, business profits, personal wages, and/ ...
study in 2013 and found that the ports' marine cargo divisions support a combined $138.1 billion in economic activity, equivalent to a third of Washington state's
gross state product Gross regional domestic product (GRDP), gross domestic product of region (GDPR), or gross state product (GSP) is a statistic that measures the size of a region's economy. It is the aggregate of gross value added (GVA) of all resident producer unit ...
. The ports support more than 48,000 jobs, including 18,900 direct jobs, and produced $379 million in state and local taxes.


Cargo

For the year of 2016, The Northwest Seaport Alliance reported its container traffic totaled 3.6 million TEUs, an increase of 2 percent from 2015, and 28 million
metric ton The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s. The two ports serve 22 international container carriers, as well as 30 other carriers, providing regular service to seaports in
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea ...
,
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
,
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...
,
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
,
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
, Australia,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
, and
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
. The alliance's top imports include industrial machinery, electronics, vehicles, toys, and furniture; its top exports include
oil seed Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fats ...
s and grains, industrial machinery, prepared vegetables and fruits, fish and seafood, edible fruits, and metals.


Connections

The Northwest Seaport Alliance has direct rail connections to the
Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...
and
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...
regions of the United States, provided by BNSF Railway and
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...
. The Port of Seattle owns
Seattle–Tacoma International Airport Seattle–Tacoma International Airport , branded as SEA Airport and also referred to as Sea–Tac (), is the primary commercial airport serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It is in the city of SeaTac, which ...
, the region's primary airport for passengers and cargo, located from Seattle and from Tacoma. The two ports of Seattle and Tacoma are also connected to the state highway system, including
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Calif ...
between both ports and
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, a ...
in Seattle. The
Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington. Established in 1905, it is ...
plans to enhance road connections between the two ports and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport through the Puget Sound Gateway Program. Approved in 2015 by the state legislature, the $1.6 billion program will extend State Route 167 to the Port of Tacoma and State Route 509 to Interstate 5, creating a direct freeway connection between the three areas.


Facilities

The Northwest Seaport Alliance owns a total of of property in King and Pierce counties, including from the Port of Tacoma (South Harbor) and from the Port of Seattle (North Harbor). The two harbors have 10 total
container terminal A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...
s with 23 berths and 47 cranes; there are also 7 non-container terminals used primarily for
breakbulk In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, refers to goods that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading ...
cargo and automobiles via
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their o ...
ships.


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2015 establishments in Washington (state) Port authorities in the United States Ports and harbors of Washington (state) Transportation in Seattle Water transport in Seattle