The Maine Port Authority has awarded Americold Logistics the bid to construct a 150,000-square-foot public refrigerated warehouse (PRW) on 6.3 acres of land adjacent to the International Marine Terminal in Portland, Maine. Now engaged in exclusive negotiations for a land lease, it anticipates that groundbreaking could occur in the latter half of 2016, with operations commencing within a year thereafter.
“Our company has been a fixture in the local community for more than 60 years, and this project solidifies our commitment to the city, the port and the state,” said Fred Boehler, president and chief operating officer of Americold. “We plan to create a world-class facility to bring new business to Portland, while maintaining our existing relationships with local seafood companies, food producers and retailers.”
Americold will partner with the Maine Port Authority to attract customers currently served at other ports while accommodating increased local demand by leveraging the site’s access to rail and road networks that are spared the congestion of ports to the south.
Eimskip, a global temperature-controlled shipping line based in Iceland, has designated the Port of Portland as its primary US port of call and has partnered with Americold on the development.
“We’re very pleased with the award and the opportunity to work with Americold and the Maine Port Authority to provide New England with the most advanced cold storage and transportation options on the East Coast,” stated Larus Isfeld, managing director of Eimskip USA.
Eimskip will become an anchor tenant and is considering relocating its North American headquarters to the facility once it’s completed. Together, Americold and Eimskip will offer the market full temperature-controlled supply chain capability with multi-model transportation (rail, ocean and over-the-road), anchored by a modern facility located on the port offering enhanced services and expansion capabilities for both existing and new potential customers entering the market.
“New England is in need of port-based, temperature-controlled transportation and storage solutions outside of Boston,” remarked John Henshaw, executive director of the Maine Port Authority. “Americold’s new facility will bring the latest in cold chain innovation right to our region’s doorstep, significantly reducing transportation times and costs associated with trucking down to Boston.”
The new site is expected to provide work for approximately 200 people during the construction period, and up to 30 full time jobs once the facility is in full operation.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Americold is ranked as the largest refrigerated warehousing and logistics provider in the world, serving more than 3,000 clients and employing 11,000 people globally. It owns and operates over 175 temperature-controlled warehouses providing more than 1 billion cubic feet of storage in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, Argentina and Canada. The facilities are an integral component of the supply chain connecting food producers, processors, distributors, and retailers to consumers.
