SC Ports completes Wando Welch Terminal upgrades

[Photo: SC Ports/Walter Lagarenne]

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) reports the completion of a key infrastructure project at its busiest container terminal, the Wando Welch Terminal in the Port of Charleston. It can now once again handle three mega containerships simultaneously at any tide, providing expedited logistics and consistent fluidity for ocean carriers calling the Port of Charleston.

Wando Welch Terminal’s new steel toe wall running along the wharf strengthens the terminal to handle bigger ships and maintain deeper depths, with additional dredging in front of the terminal reinforcing Charleston Harbor’s 52-foot-depth.

“With the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast and strategic port investments at our terminals, SC Ports can efficiently handle the biggest ships at any tide,” said SC Ports president and CEO Barbara Melvin. “These investments save our customers time and money. Ocean carriers can access our terminals without waiting, and we provide highly productive port service to quickly work ships and speed goods to market.”

SC Ports’ engineering team managed the 14-month Wando Welch Terminal wharf toe wall project, with WSP USA leading design and Mead and Hunt overseeing construction.

Russell Marine LLC installed steel sheet piles underwater and buried them into the channel bottom to reinforce the existing slope underneath the wharf. Marinex Construction Inc. completed the berth deepening.

The Wando Welch Terminal toe wall project and dredging cost roughly $23 million, with $11.2 million coming from a 2019 Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) grant.

SC Ports’ operations and berthing team worked alongside maritime partners to implement creative solutions for customers whenever construction limited the terminal to two berths.

“We are grateful to our customers for their incredible support as we navigated this critical infrastructure project, which will pay dividends to companies’ supply chains,” Melvin said. “Wando Welch Terminal is a powerhouse terminal, and with three berths fully open again, we are providing berth fluidity and reliable port service for our customers.”

March volumes

SC Ports handled 240,857 TEUs and 131,513 pier containers in March, up 11% compared to March 2024. This was the second consecutive month of stronger container volumes.

Rail-served inland ports in Greer and Dillon also performed well last month. Inland Port Greer handled 19,291 rail moves, up 20% from last year. This was an all-time record for the upstate inland port, which recently completed a significant expansion to handle more cargo. Inland Port Dillon continued to see growth with 3,287 rail moves in March, up 14% year-over-year.

The Port of Charleston handled 20,483 vehicles in March, up 14% from last year.

“While we anticipate volume fluctuations amid economic uncertainties, we are encouraged to see stronger volumes across all our business segments,” Melvin said. “We celebrate our maritime community, who works together every day to keep freight moving for port-dependent businesses throughout the Southeast and beyond.”