A long-planned cold storage facility on the Portland waterfront and a pending sale of the state’s largest railroad are on the horizon, demonstrating that the pandemic has slowed but not stopped changes in the transportation and logistics field.
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Like nearly everything in the pandemic, development of the planned Maine International Cold Storage Facility on the Portland waterfront faced delays in 2020.
But the project is moving ahead, with the city’s approval.
“Many other pieces are still in progress, such as construction bidding, design review, environmental testing and legal and financial negotiations,” says Maine Port Authority CEO Jonathan Nass.
The most recent cost estimate is $25 million to $38 million.
A cold-storage facility is considered a key part of the port’s development and would allow for temporary storage of seafood, pharmaceuticals and other bulk projects. The 120,000-square-foot building will have 12 loading docks, 20,000 pallet spaces, 76,000 square feet of freezer storage capacity, and access to ocean, rail and highway transportation.
“This demand is increasing in the face of the global pandemic and the associated sea changes in the global supply chain,” says Nass. Since last March, the International Marine Terminal “has seen a significant increase in refrigerated cargo which, combined with world-wide changes in the ‘just-in-time’ logistical doctrine, buttress the already-clear business case for this investment.”
The cold storage facility is planned for a state-owned parcel on the Fore River, adjacent to Maine Port Authority’s International Marine Terminal’s container yard, intermodal lot and rail lot. It will be also minutes from I-295.
The plan comes from a consortium led by Icelandic-owned Eimskip USA, joined by Yarmouth-based Treadwell Franklin Infrastructure, U.K.-based Amber Infrastructure and Portland engineering firm Woodard & Curran.
Other upgrades in the works
Other infrastructure improvements are planned in 2021. A new Lieber 420 Mobile Harbor Crane is scheduled for delivery from Germany in January. Maine Port Authority will begin implementation of a recently awarded $4.1 million U.S. Department of Transportation Port Infrastructure Development Program grant, to rehab and build dry storage capacity at the marine terminal and Merrill Terminal.
A pending purchase of state rail assets by railroad CSX Corp. promises to provide more opportunities to transition truck to rail freight and create economical supply chain connections to the south and west.
