Page 2 The Public Record • January 26, 2012
China Exports Behind Lithuania Port Link
(Cont. From Page 1) ments have been pouring in for 20 years – with much more to come. Can Philadelphia tap into some of that westbound business? The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is working to make that happen. Last week, the Republic of Lithuania and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority signed a historic Memorandum of Understanding that promises to open Philadelphia ports to the European and Asian shipping trade via Klaipėda. Lithuania’s Transport & Communications Minister Eligijus Masiulis led a delegation of that country’s leaders to meet with PRPA Chairman Charles G. Kopp and Executive Director James T. McDermott, Jr.; various Pennsylvania state and city officials; Leo A. Holt, president of Holt Logistics Corp., the organization that operates the PRPA’s Packer Avenue Marine Terminal the Port of Philadelphia’s largest facility; and Robert Palaima, president of Delaware River Stevedores, Inc. and a Lithuanian American. Together, they signed an MOU which pledges increased support for expanded trade between Philadelphia
and Klaipėda. The delegation also included Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States Žygimantas Pavilionis and Eugenijus Gentvilas, the director general of the Klaipėda Seaport. The agreement came after extensive discussions between Lithuanian officials and the Port of Philadelphia, led by Krista Bard, US Consul of Lithuania; PRPA officials; and representatives of Holt Logistics. “Today’s agreement is another step forward for the Port of Philadelphia,” said PRPA Kopp. “Under Gov. Corbett’s leadership, the PRPA is committed to revitalizing the Port, both through continued support of the River deepening project and through partnerships that expand trade opportunities with important port cities like Klaipėda.” “We live in an increasingly interconnected world, and this agreement significantly improves the Port of Philadelphia’s ability to compete for the cargoes that mean jobs and opportunity for our region,” said Holt. “The Port of Klaipėda is a gateway to greater shipping and trade opportunities throughout Western Europe and Asia.” Klaipėda is the thirdlargest city in Lithuania. As a
major-league port, it’s scarcely 20 years old. During this period, it was deepened from 25 feet to 45 feet. The port’s annual cargo-handling capacity is now up to 45 million tons. With more to come…. A trial container train arrived in Lithuania from China just last fall. Rail shipping across Eurasia is still tricky because the gauges of the rails in China, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Union countries like Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus) are different. Lithuania is an eastern junction where the European rail network links to CIS rails. So Lithuanians have become expert transshippers. China is a now a world leader in rail technology and Chinese investors have dramatic plans to upgrade their rail links to Europe. Even on the existing rail lines, the trial shipment from China to Lithuania took only 12 days; it would have taken 30 days to ship the same containers by sea. In East Coast shipping, all eyes are currently on the widening of the Panama Canal, which will double its capacity in 2014, unleashing a tide of large new freighters on our shores. But Lithuania will
open a back door to China as well. Holt wants to beat a path from that back door to Philadelphia. An MOU is largely a symbolic gesture that does not, in itself, deliver any containers. “But it is a powerful symbol,” Holt insisted. “It starts a sales conversation. We have identified a common thread between our two ports. If these ties are nurtured, an MOU can lead to great opportunities.” All indicators predict Chinese trade with Europe and the USA will continue to boom in coming decades. Part of Klaipėda’s appeal as a port (like Philadelphia’s) is it has ample room for growth. A short distance up the coast, space has been reserved for a second port equal to Klaipėda in size. So international investors are building for tomorrow as well as today. There already is a federally mandated partnership between the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Republic of Lithuania, and this event marks another historic step in strengthening these ties. Philadelphia was a major port of entry for Lithuanian immigrants 100 years ago and there is a strong Lithuanian American community in the Keystone State.
“We are honored to partner with the Commonwealth and the private sector to create new opportunities for expanded trade between these two vital port cities,” said Bard. “The Commonwealth, the PRPA, and the Holt family have worked hard to make this agreement possible, and we thank them for their outstanding support.” The Port of Philadelphia’s marketers have been hustling in other places besides Lithuania during the recession and their work has paid off. With many national ports showing no gains and, some showing decreases in shipping, the Port has shown a solid 10% increase in cargo for 2011. When 2011 year-end totals came in, McDermott reported the 3,993,616 metric tons of cargo handled at its waterfront facilities “marked a solid gain” when compared with the 3,628,312 tons of cargo handled in 2010. Gains in both containerized cargoes and several non-containerized cargoes contributed to this gain. Cargo showed a 17% increase in 2010 over 2009, surpassing pre-recession levels. Container cargo, moving through the Port of Philadelphia at the Packer Avenue (Cont. Page 4)
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PPA Seeks Wheelchair-Accessible Cabs Noting the ever-escalating demand for taxi service from wheelchair-bound passengers, Philadelphia Parking Authority Executive Director Vince Fenerty announced his agency “has begun the process to require more than 300 taxicabs in Philadelphia to become wheelchair-accessible before the end of this year.” Under the draft regulation issued for public comment, 300 taxicabs will be required to be wheelchair-accessible this year, and all taxicabs will be required to be wheelchairaccessible by Jan. 1, 2016. According to Fenerty, “Attempts over the past several years to encourage taxicab owners to voluntarily
Vince Fenerty ...a handicap must provide accessible taxicab service have resulted in only three active wheelchair-accessible taxicabs in all of Philadelphia.”
“We can no longer wait for taxi companies to voluntarily step up and address the needs of our disabled individuals. We must address the need for accessible taxicab service in Philadelphia now,” Fenerty said. He noted, “Our draft regulation outlines the process for the eventual conversion of the entire taxi fleet in Philadelphia. That regulation will have to go through all of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s review procedures that apply to a Commonwealth agency,” Fenerty said. Under the draft regulation, 300 medallion taxicabs would be selected through a lottery system. Those 300 medallions
could then only be attached to wheelchair-accessible vehicles. The lottery would occur this year. Also, 20% of the fleet of any non-medallion taxicab company would also have to be wheelchair-accessible this year. The vehicles used to provide wheelchairaccessible service will need to comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to Deborah Sinni, whose husband was confined to a wheelchair for 10 years until his death “SEPTA does not have enough wheelchair-accessible stations. SEPTA Connect is so overscheduled that wheelchair customers are time-lim-
ited on usage. Also, if you cannot afford to either purchase a wheelchair van or rent a wheelchair van at over $110 per day, then as a wheelchair patient your mobility is dismal. “With wheelchair-accessible taxicabs, especially if the cabs go with rear entry, any wheelchair or scooter can be accommodated any time, day or night, simply by hailing a cab. How normal! Disabled people can now freely go to theater district, enjoy the Philly night life, etc. “Remember, we have a lot of scooter-bound patients due to cardiac and respiratory problems. Often scooter patients are ignored.”
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