SEATTLE- SSA Marine announced that its subsidiary, Texas City Terminal Holdings (TCTH), has issued the first construction contract awarded for the development of Texas City International Terminal (TCIT) on Shoal Point to Affolter Contracting Ltd. Andy McLauchlan, senior vice president of business development and marketing, made the announcement during a ground breaking ceremony held today in Texas City overlooking earth moving machinery working on the Shoal Point project site. McLauchlan said TCTH committed to Mayor Carlos Garza and the Texas City community that "we would seek out Texas City area companies and also ensure all contractors pay prevailing wages." He also emphasized that "SSA Marine and TCTH not only want to build in the community but also be active players in the community."

TCIT is a state of the art container terminal that is estimated to cost over $600 million and employ over 1000 longshoremen and other terminal personnel. TCTH, the owner, developer and operator is commencing construction this week and is planning to open the facility for operations within 30 months. The project construction includes a three lane, three mile road from Loop 197 South to Shoal Point along the Last Chance Canal. The terminal will be constructed in three phases and when completed will offer six 1000-foot berths, 400 acres of container terminal area and a capacity to handle over 2 million containers annually. The first phase development is 2,000 feet of berth and 125 acres of container yard.

The total cost of the project will be funded by TCTH and all of the Shoal Point capital improvements will be subject to ad valorem property tax. Additionally, TCTH has reimbursed the City of Texas City for all costs incurred by the City for the studies, legal fees, consultants and engineers associated with obtaining the necessary construction permits and the easement and lease agreements. In the end, no taxpayer funds will be used for the development of TCIT.

Similar marine terminal projects undertaken by SSA Marine, such as MIT on the Panama Canal and the Port of Manzanillo on the West Coast of Mexico, have generated thousands of jobs and spurred economic development. "TCIT is no different," said McLauchlan. As the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers projected in the EIS for TCIT at Shoal Point, during the first 20-years of the project, TCIT will generate:

• 5,377 direct/indirect construction jobs;
• 22,532 direct/indirect jobs supporting the operation, maintenance and management of TCIT (the employment multiplier by two, which is very low given the standard employment multiplier used in most port development projects is seven); and
• Tax revenue to federal, state and local governments in excess of $42 million.

We are very proud of our public private sector partnership with SSA Marine and TCTH on this new container cargo terminal," said Texas City Mayor, Carlos Garza. "This is a major economic development project that will enhance Texas' competitiveness for the Latin American trade. I am confident Texas City International Terminal at Shoal Point will be another very successful marine terminal project for SSA Marine," continued Mayor Garza.

TCIT at Shoal Point is a win-win project for Texas City, Galveston County, the State of Texas, SSA Marine and, most importantly, the taxpayers.

About SSA Marine
SSA Marine is the largest privately held container terminal operator and cargo handling company in the world, handling approximately 18 million container TEU's per year at its marine and rail terminals. The company has 150 operations worldwide, including port operations throughout the U.S. as well as internationally in Panama, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Iraq, South Africa and New Zealand and more than 13,000 employees.

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