Photo by Clay Nolen 



Hogsheads of tobacco are loaded onto a ship at Morehead City 



State ports inching into the black 



It took a controversy over a $2.5 

 million 40-ton container crane to get 

 the North Carolina ports in the 

 headlines. That's the most North 

 Carolinians had heard about their state 

 ports at Wilmington and Morehead 

 City, which have in the past been 

 among the least-used ports on the 

 eastern seaboard. 



But that picture could be changing. 

 Wilmington and Morehead City soon 

 may be as high on the lists of import- 

 ers and exporters as the port cities of 

 Charleston, Norfolk and Savannah are 

 now. According to North Carolina 

 State Ports Authority (SPA) officials, 

 Morehead City and Wilmington are 

 fast becoming major ports along the 

 east coast. 



In the 1978-79 fiscal year, the two 

 ports showed the largest profit in the 



27-year operation of the ports author- 

 ity, says Bill Stover, the SPA director 

 of communication. Total net profit was 

 $563,214, up from a $152,000 deficit 

 last year and a 220 percent increase 

 over the previous best year. 



The Wilmington profits for 1978-79 

 were $776,272, while Morehead City 

 again recorded a deficit of $202,295. 

 The deficit was reduced two-thirds 

 from the previous year, and SPA of- 

 ficials believe this year that port will 

 break even. Officials also note that the 

 ports are no longer requiring a $150,- 

 000 supplement from the General 

 Assembly to operate. 



But Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. said at 

 a July SPA meeting that if the ports 

 are to continue to grow they must 

 receive better support from industry 

 within the state. "Statewide, we are 



developing special marketing efforts to 

 convince more of our industries that 

 are now shipping out of our state to 

 ship through the ports within this 

 state," he said. 



A poor east-west highway system in 

 the state has hurt port development, 

 Stover says. "Many Piedmont in- 

 dustries have found it quicker and 

 sometimes cheaper to transport goods 

 to Norfolk, Charleston or Savannah 

 because they have four-lane highways 

 to these areas," he says. "There are no 

 four-lane highways from the Piedmont 

 to Wilmington and Morehead City." 



The answer to the transportation 

 problem may be an inland port. A con- 

 sulting firm, hired by the SPA, has 

 suggested that the inland port facility, 

 located in the Piedmont, could act as 

 a collecting point for containers that 

 would later be shipped by rail to 

 Wilmington. 



The firm found that North Carolina 

 produced more goods for the inter- 

 national market than any of its sur- 

 rounding neighbors, yet only 30 per- 

 cent of these goods were being exported 

 via the North Carolina ports. With the 

 inland port, the firm estimates that 

 North Carolina could have 70 percent 

 of all the container shipping traffic in 

 the state. Stover says, however, that 

 the inland port is merely a suggestion 

 and will have to be carefully con- 

 sidered. 



In the past, a paucity of major ship- 

 ping lines calling at the ports also 

 slowed development, Stover says. 

 There are now ten regular shipping 

 lines calling at the Wilmington port, 

 compared to three lines two years ago. 

 Five shipping lines call at Morehead 

 City, where none called two years ago. 



The shipping lines that call on the 

 state's ports serve all major world 

 ports except Australia, Puerto Rico 

 and South America. But, Stover adds, 

 lines that serve these areas will call on 

 the North Carolina ports when there is 

 a large shipment. 



"We see the next five years as 

 growth years and our theme is 'The 

 New North Carolina Ports,' " Stover 

 says. "We're not the ports we used to 

 be. We're growing, competitive and 

 aggressive ports with more services to 

 offer our customers." 



"Norfolk and Charleston are no 

 longer going to get the slack we can't 

 handle because now we can handle it," 

 said Hunt in July. "Those businesses 

 that haven't checked out the Wil- 

 mington and Morehead City ports in 



