Portland shipping terminal will use $14M grant to upgrade, keep pace with demand

PHOTO / RENEE CORDES A view of Portland's International Marine Terminal from the Casco Bay Bridge.

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The Portland International Marine Terminal will receive $14.2 million in federal funds so it can modernize and keep pace with growing cargo volumes at its container handling facility.

The money was awarded as a grant to the Maine Department of Transportation from the U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration’s Port Infrastructure Development Program.

The terminal, operated by the Maine Port Authority, requires improvements in order to meet growing demand, according to a news release.

Work will include tripling the current capacity of power plugs for refrigerated containers, upgrading the emergency generator system and other facility improvements.

“Improving Maine’s infrastructure and modernizing our coastal economies are essential efforts for ensuring our state’s long-term growth and prosperity,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. “This investment will help better position Portland for future expansions and increasing freight volumes.”

The funding will support components of MaineDOT’s “Enhancing Maine’s Three-Port Strategy for the Future” proposal.

Port Infrastructure Development Program grants support efforts by ports and industry stakeholders to improve infrastructure and ensure ports can meet anticipated growth in freight volumes.

Although the volume of container shipping has recently been on a decrease in most U.S. and European ports, Portland bucked the trend last year with growth of 4% to 5%.

Portland has seen steady growth in cargo carried by Eimskip, a 100-year-old shipping company based in Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2013, Eimskip moved the U.S. port of call for its vessels to Portland from Norfolk, Va., and has been operating out of Portland's International Marine Terminal.

Portland's capacity for handling goods could also get a boost soon, when a $55 million, 107,000-square-foot cold-storage warehouse on the city’s waterfront is completed, expected early next year.

The International Marine Terminal is one of several terminals in the Port of Portland.