Melvin highlighted port infrastructure improvements for the more than 1,200 attendees of her third-annual address, according to SC Ports, which owns and operates marine terminals at the Port of Charleston and inland ports at Greer (served by Norfolk Southern) and Dillon (served by CSX).
The rail-served inland ports handled 24% more cargo in fiscal year 2024 than in the previous year, according to SC Ports. At Inland Port Greer, 9,000 feet of new rail and an expanded container yard will help support customers’ growth, it said. SC Ports is also expanding rail capabilities at the Port of Charleston with a direct rail connection to the port. With $400 million in state funding, the Navy Base Intermodal Facility is taking shape on a 118-acre site in North Charleston near the Leatherman Terminal, according to SC Ports. This facility is slated to provide 35,000 feet of processing tracks and use six electric rail-mounted gantry cranes to transfer containers between railcars and trucks. Site grading and utilities are said to be nearly complete, and concrete paving and track construction is under way. According to SC Ports, the Navy Base Intermodal Facility will move cargo between the Port of Charleston and inland ports, and beyond to key markets like Atlanta, Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham and Memphis. Additionally, a private one-mile-long road—dedicated for port truck traffic—will connect the facility to Leatherman Terminal, “enabling the rapid movement of imports and exports between the facilities.”
“With the support of our rail partners at CSX, Norfolk Southern, 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.
SC Ports’ Leatherman Terminal recently reopened, unlocking an additional 700,000 TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) in Charleston Harbor and a 1,400-foot berth. Melvin announced during her address that expansion plans are already under way there, including building a second, 1,600-foot berth for the terminal’s wharf, providing a total of 3,000 feet of berth space for mega container ships. At full buildout, Leatherman Terminal will offer three berths and a total of 2.4 million TEUs of capacity.
“In partnership with the ILA, employers and greater maritime community, we are once again providing excellent port service at Leatherman Terminal for the benefit of our ocean carrier and cargo owner customers, adding critical capacity to the U.S. East Coast,” Melvin said. “We have welcomed our first weekly, first-in-Asia service with ZIM, with many more to come.”
With expansions and modernization either planned or completed for its three container terminals, SC Ports said it is on the cusp of having 10 million TEUs of capacity at Charleston Harbor.
In addition to Leatherman Terminal’s planned capacity, the North Charleston Terminal will be expanded through SC Ports’ purchase of an adjacent 280-acre industrial site along the Cooper River. According to SC Ports, this terminal will be expanded to handle 5 million TEUs in the future. It will offer 5,000 feet of linear berth space for container ships and 400 acres of terminal space for cargo.
“A modernized terminal with significant new container capacity will yield even more reliable, productive port service,” Melvin said. “This expansion, combined with efforts to raise the Don Holt Bridge and deepen the river to 52 feet, will enable North Charleston Terminal to handle the biggest ships calling the port today.”
Wando Welch Terminal already handles three mega container ships simultaneously and offers 2.4 million TEUs of cargo capacity, including a large refrigerated container yard. Wando handled a record 1.2 million containers in fiscal year 2024, according to SC Ports, even as toe wall construction continues there. When completed, this infrastructure project will secure a 54-foot depth for vessels in front of the terminal, supporting the 52-foot harbor depth.
“With more than $3 billion invested into port infrastructure, SC Ports is perfectly positioned to be the preferred port on the U.S. East Coast,” Melvin said. “Every time you see a truck on the road, a ship in our harbor and stacks of containers filled with goods, or autos on this terminal—it represents jobs and economic prosperity for our state. We provide excellent port service so our customers can run their businesses smoothly. Thousands of global brands depend on us to keep goods moving through the supply chain, and we are proud to deliver world-class port service to them.”
