China Shipping to Expand Service at Port of Seattle

SSA Marine will continue partnership with shipping line

The Port of Seattle announced today that China Shipping Lines will expand its Seattle container service, calling at the Port's newly reconfigured Terminal 30 beginning in Spring, 2009. China Shipping currently calls at Terminal 18 under an agreement with SSA Terminals. Under the terms of the new agreement, China Shipping Terminals (USA) will be an equity partner with SSA Terminals (Seattle) which will lease and operate the renovated container terminal.

"We are pleased to further perfect our gateway in Seattle to offer our best service to all our customers by strengthening the cooperation with the Port of Seattle and our partner SSA Terminals. I am sure that this cooperation will be beneficial to all parties, including our import and export customers and labors in the Port," said Mr. Li Shaode, President of China Shipping Group Shanghai.

"We are very pleased that China Shipping has chosen to call at Terminal 30," said Port Commission President John Creighton. "It is especially gratifying for a current customer to increase its investment and presence here. We are honored by the confidence they have shown in the Port of Seattle."

China Shipping began calling at the Port in 1999. China Shipping Lines' current volumes total over 97,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) into the Port of Seattle each year. CSCL, the shipping line's North America operation, was given the Shipping Line of the Year Award by Lloyd's Loading List for 2006, underscoring the respect the company enjoys among its peers.

"The Port is making a significant investment at Terminal 30, and we are very pleased to have a partner the caliber of China Shipping Lines calling at the facility," said Port CEO Tay Yoshitani. "China Shipping shares our mission of creating economic vitality, and we are fortunate to serve them. I am especially proud that with this new facility, China Shipping will be positioned to increase the volume of containers they handle through the Port of Seattle."

Jon Hemingway, CEO SSA Terminals noted, "We have been working with the Port of Seattle and our partner, China Shipping, to return Terminal 30 to container operations. We have significantly increased container capacity and the potential for more family wage jobs for our workforce at the Port of Seattle. Given the proximity to the Port's rail yards and the close work with Port of Seattle staff on the in water work required, we are proud that this project has the smallest environmental and traffic impact of any significant increase in cargo transport infrastructure container in any US port this decade. In fact, it has provided our community an opportunity to further clean up the east Duwamish channel while making our port more competitive for larger, more efficient vessels."

The Port of Seattle is investing $120 million in creating a state-of-the-art container facility at Terminal 30 and relocating cruise facilities to Terminal 91. The Port will upgrade 1,500 lineal feet of berth so that the facility will be capable of serving ships with up to 8,000 TEUs, and will install crane rails designed to support large container cranes with rail capacity of 45,000 pounds per foot. Other improvements will include construction of a new trucking gate system, designed to reduce congestion and idling times; dredging the waterway to 51 feet; and upgrades to the electrical system, yard paving and yard lighting. Once the move to Terminal 30 is complete, China Shipping's current location, Terminal 18, will be available for use by another large shipping customer.

Port of Seattle transportation facilities support nearly 200,000 jobs in the Puget Sound region and generate more than $12 billion in business revenue and $626 million in state and local taxes annually.