A maritime shipping coalition, led by the Port of Portland, is requesting financial support from the state to keep Oregon’s only international container terminal operational. The terminal is currently losing money, and the coalition is searching for a private operator to take over.
On August 23, the port and other stakeholders presented a plan to Governor Tina Kotek. They emphasized that container shipping through Terminal 6 is crucial for state businesses and proposed public investment to maintain the terminal’s services while they continue their search for a private operator under the landlord model.
Governor Kotek asked for a business plan after committing in May to keep Terminal 6 (T6) operational, despite years of significant financial losses, with subsidies from the port. Her proposed 2025-27 budget will include $35 million for capital investments and channel maintenance in the lower Columbia River, along with $5 million in emergency operational funding from the Oregon Emergency Board this fall.
The plan is backed by various importers and exporters, such as Kroger, Columbia Sportswear, and labor representatives.
Leal Sundet, secretary of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 8, which represents most of the terminal’s workers, stated, “Container service provides hundreds of local jobs and supports many more in related industries and communities. These jobs are vital to the local economy and help shippers and industries across the state. Container service is the region’s economic lifeblood.”
The port emphasized that it cannot continue operating T6 without significant state investment and additional efficiencies from the shipping industry.
The report highlights that the marine container service supports 1,500 jobs and generates $20 million in state and local tax revenue each year.
The port has negotiated new rates with the container shipping companies serving T6, along with labor efficiencies with the ILWU and reduced fees with Harbor Industrial, the terminal’s container stevedore.
Additionally, the port is collaborating with the coalition’s advisory council on new strategies, including marketing to shippers and business initiatives aimed at doubling container volumes over the next five to seven years. State investments, both short- and long-term, would help reduce the financial losses the port faces in the coming year, allowing it to work toward operational stability.
The proposed funding requires approval from legislators in September and during the 2025 Legislative Session.
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