The time has come for our new leadership in Concord to put the Port back under contract with a Private Terminal Operator, and under the control of a Board of Directors of Industry Professionals.

In the past the Port was very successful in creating jobs, diversifying cargo, and creating economic opportunity for NH businesses to import and export their products. This success was accomplished under the contract of a Private Terminal Operator. In the late 1990’s the New Hampshire Port Authority, NHPA, board of directors, and leadership became overly political, lost sight of their mission, and suffered several serious miss-steps.

The result was the commissioning of a Master Plan for the Terminal in early 2000 by the NHPA in response to refocus the direction of the Port, and then an audit by the Office Of Legislative Budget Assistant submitted on July 14, 2000 in response to mismanagement by the board, leadership, and staff of the NHPA.

In response to these reports, the quick fix was to put the NHPA under the control of the Pease Development Authority. It has been nearly six years since this legislation has been enacted, and disappointingly, many of the issues and recommendations of both reports have failed to be acted upon, implemented, or even addressed. The Port is no closer to achieving the objectives outlined in 2000.

The PDA-DPH has tried to act as it’s own Terminal Operator and has failed to meet the original enabling legislation and mission of the Port and recommendations of the Master Plan of 2000. These objectives have been successfully been achieved by private Terminal Operator’s in the past and currently at most all US ports.

It is quite possible the PDA-DPH has become a drain on resources of the PDA. The PDA and its resources are better focused on attempting to jump starting its fledgling Airport business sector of the PDA.

A new NHPA, based on the successful models of other states, is long overdue:

I. A smaller, less politicized board and leadership consisting of Industry Professionals.

II. A private Contract Terminal Operator with a clear and concise mandate from the board of directors.

III. A private Contract Terminal Operator allows the director more time to oversee the day-to-day activities of the port office and insure the mandates of the board are being complied with.

For the past several years we have been told we can’t do this we can’t do that etc. at the port, by the leadership. While the excuses are many the reasons are suspect. We need a Board and director that promote our port to be ‘The Little Port that Can."

One needs to look no further than Stratham and Lint chocolate’s current expansion. Lindt is creating quality local jobs in the Seacoast, and in 1993 the Stratham facility employed about 100 people; today, there are roughly 800.

On Monday November 13, company leaders, Stratham town officials and Gov. John Lynch attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the 300,000-square-foot expansion of the Lindt & Sprüngli chocolatier facility in the Stratham Industrial Park. The expansion will provide increased production and storage capabilities and is expected to bring hundreds of jobs to Stratham.

Lindt is located only 10 miles or so from the Port. They currently import about 15 containers a week into other ports then have to truck them to, and warehouse them in Franklin, Mass., then reload and truck to Stratham, NH. The irony is that when Lindt first opened, the NH Port had a weekly container service that imported containers for Lindt.

This is just one example of missed opportunity for NH businesses and workers and the current philosophy at the port allows this to occur, in direct conflict of the ports mission. At the far reaches of the state, high value logs that use to export from the port, are trucked as far as NY and Pennsylvania for export. While NH paper mills are idle, shuttered and being closed, Maine mills are exporting upwards of 150 forty foot containers a week from the port of Portland, Me. This high quality paper and pulp is in great demand overseas. The irony is that the biggest Maine paper exporter Sappi Paper, formerly SD Warren, use to export containers weekly on the NH feeder service.

Cruise Ships are another business. We are told that the tides, bridges, and docks prevent us from doing them. Boston, Portland and Bar Harbor all have 100 or so visits a year. Portland is building a new terminal, Ocean Gateway, that not only will berth the large Cruise ships but also the CAT ferry. The CAT will make 2 roundtrips a day, 7 days a week to Yarmouth, NS in 2007, from Portland. The impact to the local and state economies is staggering. Now, Gloucester, Mass. is building a $3 million Terminal for cruise ships. What do they have to offer compared to Portsmouth? They have a statue of a fisherman and not one hotel room. Like Bar Harbor, they don’t even have a Terminal, yet both have visits by the largest Cruise ships that anchor offshore and shuttle passengers ashore. Visit the Gloucester Marine terminal web site ate:

"The ports of call are not keeping up with demand," said Peter Van Ness, marketing and public relations consultant to cruise terminal builder Frank Elliott.

Seabourn's Bruce Good said his line decided to come to Gloucester "because we can."

The relatively small size of the Seabourn Pride - at 437 feet barely half the size of the Amsterdam - means it can navigate the inner harbor to berth at Rose Wharf.

Read the attached stories on the visits to Gloucester this summer and fall. Look at the projected domestic passenger bookings and ask yourself, who has missed this development? Imagine the statewide impact of a thriving cruise ship market. One thousand people pour into downtown Portsmouth and none even need a parking space. The ships in Gloucester also impacted a wide geographic area. In an 8-10 hour day, hundreds of people could also visit Hampton Beach and Casino, our other Historic downtowns of Exeter, Dover, and Newmarket, (even by way of small charter boats through beautiful Great Bay), our malls including Salem, Nashua, and Manchester. The outlet malls in North Conway and a dinner cruise on the M/S MOUNT WASHINGTON are well within reach. A day of deep-sea or lake fishing, whale watching, golfing and sightseeing is in order. Fall foliage tours in the White Mountains stopping to shop and dine of course. We have an abundance of fine hotels and restaurants to accommodate them.

Portsmouth could start out like the smaller operations of Gloucester and Bar Harbor. The possibilities and economic impact are limitless. A 2003 study by the University of Maine found that the 64 ships, working the "homeland " circuit, brought 97,000 passengers into Bar Harbor, producing local revenues in excess of $12 million.

In Nova Scotia, the well-established destination of Halifax welcomed 212,000 visitors from 122 ships in 2004, according to the Port Authority. The Canadian dollar impact of the cruise tourists was an estimated $21 million.

Why are we the only port in this area without this great business with all we have to offer? We have the Terminal, the attractions, and the businesses to serve this demand. The reasons are crystal clear. We need a new game plan and management to maximize the returns on the great resources we possess.

The time is now.

CONTINUE FOR READER RESPONSES 

OUR READERS RESPOND TO EDITORIAL

PISCATAQUA NOT GOOD FOR CRUISE SHIPS
Mr. Roach sucked you in on this one, and you should have looked around for the rebuttal before printing it. If you have  free time some day,  go down to the Portsmouth Harbor PIlots office on Ceres Street, where the tugboats tie up.  Ask them why Roach's 1,000 person capacity passenger ships cannot call at Portsmouth.

There is one major reason - the Piscataqua River. Ocean going vessels arriving at and departing from Portsmouth do so at approximately slack water.  That occurs at high tide and low tide.   Passenger ships desire to dock at 6 or 7 in the morning and sail at 5 or 6 in the evening and that simply cannot be done at Portsmouth.

Another problem is the availability of berthing space.
Portsmouth has only one pier suitable for large ships.  If there is a scrap ship on the berth, she is not going to be moved to accomodate a passenger ship.

Roach also mentions Bar Harbor, but passenger ships call there and take advantage of a protected anchorage, using their small boats to ferry the passengers ashore.  There is no current to contend with, either.  Passenger ships calling at Portland anchor off the Promenade.   Gloucester just happens to have a berth for a mid-size passenger ship, and there is no competition. 

I was the Port Captain for the YANKEE CLIPPER which ran in a weekly feeder service from Halifax  from 1979 to 1991.  Whenever a scrap ship or another type freighter was on the berth, the importers and exporters were furious, as the weekly call was forfeited.  Eventually, that is what cost Portsmouth the service.  Portland had a guaranteed berth, and Hapag-Lloyd took advantage of it, and the service existed until a few months ago.

 I am now retired and a few of my facts may be skewed, that's why I say you should run the question past the pilots.

Cordially.
Capt. George W. Duffy

CRUISING IN PORTSMOUTH
GREAT ARTICLE ON CRUISE SHIPS AND THEIR HUGE BENEFITS TO MERCHANTS IN PORTSMOUTH AND THE SURROUNDING AREA. I HOPE A CONTINUOS DIALOGUE WILL RESULT. IT SEEMS THE PDA IS RECEPTIVE TO CHANGING DIRECTION. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
JAMES GEEKIE