The Seattle and Tacoma port commissions have plans to form a Northwest Seaport Alliance that will unify management of the two ports’ marine cargo terminals and related functions.

Both ports voted on the final agreement to be submitted to the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) during a joint public meeting on June 5.

“Barring unforeseen circumstances, the agreement should be up and running August 1,” Bari Bookout, director of commercial strategy at the Port of Seattle, told Asia Cargo News immediately following the June 5 vote.

Talks regarding the alliance have been in the works under the directive of the FMC since March 2014. While both seaports have cooperated on a number of fronts for many years, competition has increased dramatically causing the seaports to look for a more formal way to do business together.

“We have been competitors for a long time,” says Bookout. “But in reality, shippers and steamship lines look at us as one gateway.”

By combining the two ports’ marine cargo operations, port officials believe the Northwest region would be in a stronger position to address competitive challenges and create new economic opportunities.

“It will allow us to leverage our investments more strategically and handle the big ships being deployed,” she says.

Under the agreement, an operations service center would be formed along with a stakeholder advisory council that would set performance metrics and engage all stakeholders to improve efficiencies.

“We expect to delve down into all the details and processes on how things are handled now, and work with everyone to figure out where the pain points are and what we can do differently,” Bookout explained.

The agreement calls for retaining existing port commission governance and asset ownership, and hiring John Wolfe, current Port of Tacoma chief executive officer, as the CEO of the seaport alliance. It also calls for forming a port development authority (PDA) to manage the container, breakbulk, auto and some bulk terminals in Seattle and Tacoma.

The Ports of Seattle and Tacoma today are the third-largest container gateway in North America.

By Karen E Thuermer