WASHINGTON: A Montreal-based real estate company will develop a logistics park called Novazone next to a proposed container terminal in the Port of Sydney, delegates to Sydney Port Days were told. “Novaporte and its adjacent logistics park, Novazone, will undoubtedly change transportation patterns in eastern North America,” Jonathan Wener, chairman and CEO of the Canderel Group, a partner in the Novazone project, told conference delegates.
However, the development of the $1.6- billion terminal and logistics park being proposed by Harbour Port Development Partners hinges on a study now under way. The study, being carried out by Chinese Communications Construction Company, will determine if the overall terminal and development plan is feasible. The study will be completed this summer.
Novazone would cover more than 500 hectares and be developed in three phases within the boundaries of a recently-announced foreign trade zone. It would include distribution centres, cross-dock facilities, warehousing, manufacturing and assembly facilities, refrigerated storage facilities as well as service retail.
Barry Sheehy, a partner in Novaporte, told the conference this week there has been a structural shift in container traffic from West Coast ports to East Coast ports due to port congestion, the deployment by shipping lines of ultra-large container vessels and a lack of infrastructure to handle the vessels.
Ships with capacities of 14,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) or more use the Suez Canal to reach ports in Europe and North America. Sheehy said he is not sure East Coast ports are ready for these bigger vessels which are expected to increase in numbers. It is these ultra-sized vessels that Novaporte wants to attract.
He said with Sydney about 10 kilometres from the great circle route and being the closest container port to Europe, it is ideally positioned for this development and would provide a solution to the large-ship problem. Sydney also has the potential to be a transshipment, transload and logistics hub, he said. “The stakes couldn’t be higher. We have a window of opportunity and we need to be going through it, but we need to get our act together. If we don’t take advantage the opportunity is gone,” Sheehy said.
Sheehy said in an interview this is a big project, with a window of opportunity of several years. “I think the maritime world will solve this problem. We have a solution and if we can’t get it implemented it will get solved somewhere else,” he said. Sheehy also addressed another key component in the overall development, the signing of a carrier or carriers to a long-term commitment to use the new terminal.
“We are in negotiations around the world (with carriers) right now at the highest levels,” he said. “The interest is very high. They know they have a problem and they are intrigued by our solution,” he said. Harbour Port Development Partners has to develop “an economic model that makes sense for them,” said Sheehy. “We are working on that. We have to have the right number,” to be competitive, he said. That number refers to cost per container which is determined by several factors, he added.
Sheehy said he is also confident that despite the fact the rail line between St. Peter’s Junction and Sydney has been closed, rail will be available if and when needed by Harbour Port Development Partners to move cargo.
“We have been talking to everyone we need to talk to. I can’t say much more than that,” he said, adding “a lot has to be invested in infrastructure if this country or this port, is to move forward.” Rail line owner Genesee & Wyoming is in a position to file with the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board for abandonment of that section.
A source close to the rail line said it would take $60 million to $70 million to upgrade that portion of the line to carry double-stack rail cars and millions more in upgrades from St. Peter’s Junction to Truro where the line connects with CN. The CN network connects to Canada’s West Coast, into the U.S. Midwest and down to Memphis.
