What a deeper river would mean to commerce

Do five measly feet in the Delaware River really matter?

Plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the navigation channel from 40 feet to 45 feet to accommodate bigger commercial ships have generated heated opposition from environmental groups and state officials in New Jersey and Delaware.

So, what difference would those five extra feet make to the steamship companies that sail the river, and to the businesses that use ships to move goods into and out of local ports?

Do they care? Yes, they do.

Maersk Line, the world's largest container-shipping company, said that if the river were deepened, it could do two things: Put more cargo on ships currently coming to Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia, and bring in larger ships.

"We always have to be careful about coming up the Delaware because the depth is only 40 feet," said Maersk vice president William Duggan Jr. "Having the ability to load more cargo would be a major benefit. It allows more commerce to come into the terminal in Philadelphia."

Maersk brings a big-ton ship to Philadelphia once a week, but it has to unload some of its cargo onto a smaller vessel in the Delaware Bay before coming upriver.

With a deeper channel, the ship would not have to off-load as much and would "be able to offset costs better," Duggan said.

Hamburg Sud vessels from South America cannot come into the Delaware "fully laden" because they draw 41 feet of water, said senior vice president Juergen Pump.

So they go first to New York, discharge cargo, and then sail to Philadelphia. "If the river were already dredged to 45 feet, Philadelphia would be the first port of call on the East Coast," Pump said.

The advantage?

"The transit cargo that goes to the Midwest from New York would come off in Philadelphia. That's more cargo, more jobs, more work for longshoremen here," he said.

Ships are getting bigger, and the largest ports already have deeper water - Baltimore; Norfolk, Va.; and Oakland, Calif., are dredged to 50 feet; Charleston, S.C., 45 feet; Savannah, Ga., 42 feet; Los Angeles soon will be deepened to 53 feet; and Long Beach, Calif., to 76 feet.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is being deepened to 50 feet from 45, and without strident opposition. Political leaders universally embrace the expansion as good for that region's economy.

While the Delaware's current depth accommodates today's smaller ships, in 2014 an expanded Panama Canal will mean more large ships, carrying cargo from Asia, will come to East and Gulf Coast ports.

"Worst-case scenario, if and when we put these bigger ships on East Coast service, Philadelphia would no longer be called because of the [depth] restrictions," said Pump of Hamburg Sud.

Dole Fresh Fruit Co. and Chiquita Brands International Inc. told the Port of Wilmington this month that it needed to expand on the Delaware River and get at least 45 feet of water to remain competitive.

The fruit firms said their next ships would be larger, and Wilmington port is at "full capacity." To continue receiving pineapple and banana cargoes, the port needs ship berths and terminals on the Delaware, wrote Chiquita vice president Deverl Maserang. "We ask you to fully consider the ramifications of not getting this [deepening] project completed and the total economic impact of continuing to delay," he wrote.

Dole vice president Stuart Jablon similarly told the Wilmington port that the "greatest opportunity to attract new cargo" is in large container ships that require at least 45 feet of water. "I urge you to let our political leaders know that we are looking to their vision and their leadership to move this project forward," he wrote.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. Inc. began sending two ships a week to Philadelphia this fall, knowing Pennsylvania and port directors were "steadfast in their support of the deepening project," said MSC president Claudio Bozzo. If East Coast ports do not deepen, "the ships cannot call," added MSC executive vice president Allen Clifford.

Two container lines - Hyundai Merchant Marine Shipping Agency and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. - say they might be interested in bringing ships up the Delaware in the future, but not without deeper water.

"We've looked at it, and we are still looking at it, with the potential development of Southport [marine terminal] in the Navy Yard," said Jeff Sprawls, Hyundai's director of marine and terminal operations. "But it's probably of no interest to us unless we get at least 45 feet."

Mitsui O.S.K. has a "very high degree of interest" in Philadelphia because of the region's population density, and the ability not to have to truck goods from New York, said vice president Richard Craig. "A deeper Delaware River would be really important in the future."

Camden Iron & Metal Inc. would benefit from a deeper channel because it could load more scrap onto its ships, said president Joseph Balzano Jr. The Camden firm exports about a million tons of scrap iron annually.

"Carrying 40,000 tons is what we are limited to right now" in the current channel, Balzano said. "New vessels being built will need another two or three feet of draft. If we could load 60,000 tons of scrap, the cost of the freight becomes much less. The benefit to our business is, it's cheaper to operate. It would be a major savings to be able to load more scrap."

Growmark Inc., a fertilizer, seed, and crop-protection company with operations on Columbus Boulevard, would import more fertilizer if the river could handle bigger ships, said plant manager George Moore.

"Right now, we are running about 80,000 to 90,000 tons a year of mixed fertilizer on the river," Moore said. That goes out by rail and truck from here, mostly to farmers and turf-management businesses.

"We'd like to get bigger ships in here that could bring more stuff at once," Moore said. "If we buy in more volume, we could get a cheaper price. We're looking at bringing in 250,000 and maybe 300,000 tons a year. We are looking to grow here, but only if the ships coming in could carry more weight."

Oil refineries on the river generally support the deepening.

"Sunoco does support the deepening project, and we would consider deepening the berths around our facilities, but that would be a business decision made at the appropriate time based on capital requirements across the company," said spokesman Thomas Golembeski.

Valero Energy Corp., which on Friday announced it was permanently closing its Delaware City plant, but still has a plant in Paulsboro, said it "in general" supported the deepening, but would receive no direct benefit from it.

"We cannot bring very large crude carriers in. It's not just because of the depth of the water," said Valero spokesman Bill Day. "We don't have facilities for tankers that are larger than aircraft carriers. We don't buy cargoes of that size for the refinery typically."

Capt. James Roche, president of the Pilots Association for the Bay and Delaware River, said his 75 river pilots welcome the deepening "with open arms. We find it to be incredibly necessary for the good of the entire tristate region."

Pilots now meet incoming ships in the bay between Cape May and Cape Henlopen, Del. Vessels more than 37 feet deep are brought in on a rising tide to have a cushion of safety in the channel.

Without a deeper Delaware, Roche foresees "commerce on the Delaware River slowly dying. As the ships get larger, they will stop calling here. Not only will we not gain new business, but we also will lose existing business," he said. "The business that comes up now will be coming in bigger ships, and deeper ships, because they won't build small ships anymore."

Activity at ports on the Delaware River:

Year Ships

2005 3,049

2006 3,322

2007 3,061

2008 2,911

Philadelphia port

Jobs: 4,055

Payroll: $222.5 million

SOURCE: Philadelphia Regional

Port Authority

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