International cargo vessels are expected to arrive at the Bellingham Shipping Terminal on a regular basis as the result of a new service contract between the Port of Bellingham and terminal operator Ports America.
As explained, the marine terminal operator and stevedore entered negotiations with the port after several of its shipping customers requested use of the Bellingham Shipping Terminal.
“This is a major turning point for the Bellingham Shipping Terminal. As the last Pacific Northwest seaport between the United States and Canada, it was only a matter of time before cargo operators recognized the Bellingham Shipping Terminal as a congestion-free alternative to the docks and terminals serving Vancouver and Seattle,” Ken Bell, Port Commission President, commented.
Under the terms of the contract, Ports America will have exclusive stevedoring rights for certain types of steel as well as inbound international forest products, metal/aluminum ingots, modules, oversized and project cargoes. Much of the inbound cargo will be stored temporarily at the shipping terminal before it is trucked to Canada as its final destination.
The port is in the process of designating the shipping terminal and surrounding areas as a Foreign Trade Zone, where customers can store goods without having to pay United States import duties and taxes.
The port’s three-year service contract with Ports America has options for two additional three-year terms.
The Bellingham Shipping Terminal is a full-service marine terminal. Its assets include 1,250 feet of dock space on a deep-water pier, a 550-foot barge pier, 85,000 square feet of covered storage, 40 acres of available land, and access to resources via rail, barge, rafts, trucks, containers and ocean-going vessels.