Vol. 114 - No. 102 - May 28, 2010

VPA to Hold Off Vote on APM Terminal Lease

The Virginia Port Authority’s Board of Commissioners postponed a scheduled vote on leasing the APM Terminal in Portsmouth during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday because not all real estate and other documents that accompany the contract have been finalized, state officials said.

The board will convene a special session on June 24 to vote on the lease agreement, VPA spokesman Joe Harris said in an e-mail.

Gov. Bob McDonnell’s administration announced a tentative agreement with the terminal operating arm of Danish shipping conglomerate A.P. Møller - Maersk on May 13 to lease the private marine cargo facility for $40 million per year over 20 years as part of an effort to better control cargo flow and operations in the Hampton Roads area.

Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton confirmed local press reports in a phone interview that Virginia International Terminals, the state’s non-profit terminal operating company, will also share revenue with APM Terminals if volume exceeds 500,000 TEUs in any year.

The lease contains a framework that would allow the VPA and APM to jointly expand the facility from 1 million to 2 million TEUs of capacity. Such a step would allow the port to automatically extend the lease for an undisclosed period of time, he added.

The three-year-old terminal handled 427,000 TEUs last year. The VPA operates three other terminals.

Harris said the parties still plan to begin the transition to state operation of the APM facility on July 1