The Port of Seattle, which had been eyeballing Pier 90 as the possible site of a temporary cruise-ship facility, has instead tapped Terminal 30 south of downtown Seattle to fill that role.
Part of the reason for the switch was delays in obtaining permits for shoreline work at Pier 90, according to port spokesperson Mick Shultz.
"There was in-water work that was part of the ongoing upgrade to the piers. [Getting the permits is] a time-consuming process," Shultz said.
In the meantime, the Terminal 30 property became available in June when shipping company Mitsui moved to another terminal.
"We felt more confident we could meet the deadline there [at Terminal 30] than at Pier 90," Shultz said.
Another benefit of the Terminal 30 location was closer proximity to downtown Seattle and the airport according to Shultz. The downside of shifting the location to Terminal 30 is that it will increase the cost of the project by $5 million to $10 million. On Pier 90, the existing building could have been renovated for passengers, luggage and offices, but at Terminal 30 a new building must be built.
The search for a temporary second cruise-ship facility was driven by the expanding cruise-ship business out of Seattle, which would have taxed the maximum capacity of 100 sailings at the main cruise-ship terminal on Pier 66 by next year.
Terminal 30, however, will accommodate two ships at a time, and as many as 42 Holland America and Princess Cruises ships will use the terminal starting in May.
Pier 90 and 91 at Terminal 91 have been lying fallow since the business they were handling dried up: Nissan decided it could economize by moving its auto imports from Seattle to California, and the chill facility constructed at Terminal 91 was superseded by mobile, refrigerated shipping containers.
Shultz confirmed that Terminal 91's piers will continue to serve as working piers.
"Piers 90 and 91 are going to be reserved for maritime uses. We spent the past 10 years upgrading them. That's quite an investment."
Shultz emphasized that Terminal 30 is an interim site only. Perhaps as soon as three years out, the port will have to decide where to build a permanent second cruise-ship facility, "and we don't know where that will be," Schultz said.
[[In-content Ad]]
