SC Ports CEO delivers updates on rail, port infrastructure investments
South Carolina Ports (SC Ports) President and CEO Barbara Melvin last week delivered her third state-of-the-port address, highlighting how investments in infrastructure are supporting the region’s economic growth.
SC Ports has three big-ship-capable terminals and plans to increase that capacity, and it has two rail-served inland ports and a near-port rail yard under construction with last-mile connectors underway, according to an SC Ports press release.
Melvin reported that SC Ports’ rail-served inland ports had a successful 2024 fiscal year, which ended June 30, increasing their cargo handling by 24%. To support that growth, SC Ports intends to expand the Inland Port Greer with 9,000 feet of new rail and an expanded container yard.
SC Ports also is expanding capabilities at the Port of Charleston with a direct rail connection. With $400 million in state funding, the port is constructing the Navy Base Intermodal Facility in North Charleston near the Leatherman Terminal. The expansion will provide 35,000-feet of processing tracks. A private road will connect the terminal to the facility.
“With the support of our rail partners at CSX, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Palmetto Railways, the Navy Base Intermodal Facility will make SC Ports well positioned for future growth by providing a capacity of 1 million rail lifts per year, nearly triple the amount of cargo we move by rail today,” Melvin said.
In her address, Melvin touched on several other recent achievements, including the recent reopening and expansion of Leatherman Terminal, which unlocked 700,000 more TEUs and a 1,400-foot berth in Charleston Harbor.
Expansion underway at the Leatherman Terminal includes construction of a 1,600-foot berth. Once completed, Leatherman will have three berths and a total of 2.4 million TEUs of capacity.
