Massport marks completion of major Boston upgrades

(BOSTON) – The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) on Friday welcomed elected officials, customers and stakeholders to the Paul W. Conley Container Terminal to celebrate the completion of critical infrastructure investments as part of a nearly $850 million plan to upgrade the Port of Boston.

The multi-year investment, made possible by the support of state, federal and local partners, is already paying dividends, with bigger ships, new services and connections to more global ports.

“Supporting these critical infrastructure projects at Conley Container Terminal is crucial to Massachusetts and New England’s competitiveness in the global marketplace,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “I am thankful for the collaborative efforts of our federal and state partners and Massport to help protect the thousands of local jobs throughout the commonwealth and the future growth of the port.”

Boston Harbor Now photo

Prior to the port’s modernization, Conley offered two services reaching seven major global ports. With the completion of these significant infrastructure investments, Conley Terminal now offers direct connectivity to China, North Europe, Southeast Asia including Vietnam and India, the Mediterranean, Middle East and Latin America through five services, with a sixth service scheduled to start in October. With direct connectivity to 25 global ports, Conley is offering more opportunities than ever for importers and exporters to compete in the global economy.

“With a deepened Boston Harbor and modern container facilities, the Port of Boston is providing greater global connections for Massachusetts businesses and supporting thousands of jobs,” said Massport CEO Lisa Wieland. “None of these infrastructure improvements would have been possible without the leadership and support of our federal, state and local elected officials and the business community.”

The Port of Boston generates $8.2 billion in annual economic impact, and supports more than 66,000 jobs. As the only full-service container terminal in New England, Conley Terminal enables more than 2,500 businesses throughout the commonwealth and New England to ship and receive products globally, including furniture and home goods, footwear, clothing, office supplies, wine and spirits, recycled fibers, sporting goods and seafood.

Completed infrastructure projects

• Butler Freight Corridor, a dedicated truck route to keep container trucks off residential roadways and allow trucks to access the highway system in minutes.
• New 50-foot-deep berth to accommodate the new cranes and larger ships.
• Three ship-to-shore cranes to serve ships carrying up to 14,000 TEUs. The new cranes are fully electric and produce no diesel emissions.
• Boston Harbor dredging, a multi-year, multi-phase partnership between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Massport and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen the main ship channel and Reserved Channel to 47 feet and the outer harbor to 51 feet, and expand the turning basin for larger vessels.
• New rubber-tire gantry cranes, expanded container storage and new refrigerated container racks.

– Massport

By Rich Miller