Mobile Auto Detailing in Wando, SC

South Carolina Ports is marking the completion of its years-long infrastructure project as its fifteenth and final ship-to-shore crane is now operational at the Port of Charleston’s Wando Welch Terminal.

The fifteen new ship-to-shore cranes have 155 feet of lift height and the ability to reach out over 22 containers to work the biggest ships calling the U.S. East Coast. The cranes will allow for three 14,000-TEU vessels to be worked simultaneously—five cranes for each of the three berths. The first two neo-Panamax ship-to-shore cranes arrived at the Wando Welch Terminal in 2018.

The cranes are a key part of SC Ports’ $500 million investment to modernize Wando Welch Terminal. The multi-year project added capacity and boosted operations with new container-handling equipment, a modernized container yard and refrigerated cargo yard, improved traffic patterns and IT systems, a strengthened wharf, and an on-terminal transload facility for large retailers.

“It is truly remarkable to see the final crane of our new fleet moved into place on the Wando Welch Terminal wharf,” said SC Ports President and CEO Barbara Melvin, who took the helm in July. “This is the culmination of years of effort, planning and coordination by our team and project partners. Our modern equipment provides smarter operations and more fluidity for the supply chain.”

SC Ports handled 216,097 TEUs and 119,872 pier containers at Wando Welch Terminal, North Charleston Terminal and Leatherman Terminal in July. This marked an improvement from the 196,225 TEUs it handled the previous month as delays at the Port of Savannah led some operators to omit Charleston, opting to instead to unload Charleston-bound containers in Savannah to make up time, according to industry expert John McCown.

SC Ports last month reported a record fiscal year in 2022 (its fiscal year runs July to June), with 2.85 million TEUs handled. For pier containers, which account for boxes of any size, SC Ports moved 1.58 million containers during the year. Overall, SC Ports saw a 12% uptick in cargo, with more than 164,000 additional containers moving through the Port of Charleston than the year prior thanks to sustained consumer demand. Imports were up 22% year-over-year.

To maintain cargo fluidity at terminals, SC Ports has extended Sunday gate hours for motor carriers through at least peak season, given berth priority to vessels taking out more cargo, improved rail dray dwell times to around 36 hours, hired more than 150 people in operations to handle the influx of cargo, and launched a port-owned and port-operated chassis pool.

These efforts have helped to keep cargo moving. There have been no vessels waiting since early May, though supply chain challenges continue along the East Coast, according to SC Ports.

“We are continuing to be adaptive and responsive to ensure fluidity for our customers and cargo owners,” Melvin said.

Container Shipping

port of charleston

With this year’s opening of the first U.S. greenfield container terminal in more than a decade plus significant modernization of its venerable Wando Welch Terminal, the South Carolina Ports Authority’s Port of Charleston is exceptionally positioned to fluidly move burgeoning volumes on and off megacontainerships.

“As the only port in the country with new terminal capacity, SC Ports has the ability to handle the growing cargo volumes and rising retail imports coming through the Port of Charleston,” James I. “Jim” Newsome III, president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina authority, told AJOT.

In his dozen years at the SC Ports helm, Newsome, a former Hapag-Lloyd (America) Inc. president, has spearheaded delivery of what he termed “just-in-the-nick-of-time infrastructure,” including through an ambitious six-year, $2 billion initiative that augurs to boost the Port of Charleston’s total annual throughput capacity to more than 4.8 million 20-foot-equivalent units.

The Port of Charleston’s increased big-ship-handling capability is coming at a propitious time, amidst a pandemic-spurred increase in U.S. consumer spending and concomitant import boom and heightened distribution hub capacity demand.

“Amid ongoing supply chain challenges, SC Ports’ capacity, berth availability and efficient operations are more important than ever,” Newsome said.

Operations were launched in March at the first phase of Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal, built on a former U.S. Navy base site in North Charleston, where the port permitting process began back in 2003. The initial Leatherman phase is adding 700,000 TEUs of yearly capacity at the Port of Charleston. At full build-out, a three-berth Leatherman facility is to offer 2.4 million TEUs of annual throughput capability.

A similar 2.4 million TEUs of yearly capacity is to be provided by the modernized Wando Welch Terminal, a four-decades-old facility that, in this latest $500 million renovation, is seeing its contingent of ship-to-shore cranes increase to 15 units with 155 feet of lift height, augmented by 65 rubber-tired gantries and a stronger wharf. The last two of those cranes are slated to be operational by early 2022. The Wando Welch Terminal can simultaneously handle as many as four megacontainerships, each with a capacity of 14,000 or more TEUs.

Furthermore, the nearly $600 million Charleston Harbor Deepening Project, funded by state and federal dollars, is on track to achieve a 52-foot depth in 2022, to give Charleston the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast, capable of accommodating the biggest of boxships at any time under any tidal conditions.

“All of this puts us in a very unique situation to be able to grow without congestion,” Newsome said. “We have no congestion right now. The port works very reliably, and we are able to get ships in and out fast.”

SC Ports already has been handling record volumes. In the first eight months of calendar 2021, the Port of Charleston handled 1,814,602 TEUs, putting it on pace to far exceed the 2,309,995 TEUs moved in 2020 and also surpass the calendar-year record 2,436,184 TEUs handled in 2019.

With such a dramatic rise in activity, SC Ports also is enhancing its intermodal capabilities for getting cargo to and from inland destinations.

Supported in part by a $25 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant, expansion is under way at SC Ports’ Inland Port Greer, the first phase of which opened just off Interstate 85 in Upstate South Carolina in 2013, with BMW Manufacturing Co. as its launch customer. The Greer facility extends the Port of Charleston’s reach 212 miles inland via Norfolk Southern rail, with 94 million consumers reachable within a one-day truck trip from the inland terminal.

Meanwhile, SC Ports is developing the Navy Base Intermodal Facility, a cargo yard near Leatherman Terminal that is to be served by both CSX and Norfolk Southern. That facility, targeted for completion within three years, is part of a $500 million-plus project that also encompasses an inner harbor container-on-barge operation for moving boxes between Wando Welch Terminal and Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal.

At the same time, with the continuing boom in retail imports, SC Ports is actively working with retailers to find transload and warehouse capacity to expedite peak-season volumes. SC Ports operates a transload facility at Wando Welch Terminal, handling cargo for e-commerce business of megaretailers.

A 3-million-square-foot Walmart import distribution center is on schedule to open in January on port-owned land in Ridgeville, South Carolina, about 35 miles northwestward up Interstate 26 from the Leatherman terminal.

Paul Scott Abbott

GULF CORRESPONDENT

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For more than a quarter of a century, Paul Scott Abbott has been writing and shooting images for the American Journal of Transportation, applying four decades of experience as an award-winning journalist.

A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, with a master’s magna cum laude from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Abbott has served as president of chapters of the Propeller Club of the United States, Florida Public Relations Association and Society of Professional Journalists.

Abbott honed his skills on several daily newspapers, including The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Richmond (Va.) News Leader, Albuquerque Journal and (South Florida) Sun-Sentinel, and was editor and publisher of The County Line, a weekly newspaper he founded in suburban Richmond, Va.

A native Chicagoan, he is a member of American Mensa and an ever-optimistic fan of the Chicago Cubs.

Find cleanest, moving water and spank the specks

May is a great time to catch speckled trout in Charleston’s Wando River, and anglers can boat their share as long as they keep a few details in mind, according to guide Garrett Lacy of Charleston Fishing Adventures.

“There are three main things to remember when fishing for speckled trout this time of year,” Lacy said. “The first is that trout like to hang out in the cleanest water they can find. No matter how good a spot has been for you in the past, if you pull up to it and find that the water is muddy, you’re better off passing by and searching for clean water.”

And while they look for the cleanest water they can find, Lacy said that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll only be in pristine water.

“They are going to find the cleanest water around, but on some days, the cleanest water might still be stained, so don’t give up on trout if you simply can’t find gin-clear water. Just make sure you’re fishing the cleanest water you can find,” he said.

No. 2 on Lacy’s list is to fish in moving water, and not just water moved by the tide.

“When I find a small feeder creek that’s emptying water into the main river, I’m going to try that spot for trout. They love to hang out where one current runs into another,” he said.

One of Lacy’s favorite tactics for fishing areas like this is to use live bait under a popping cork. He casts across the current of the smaller creek, then pops the cork and bait back into the current. Next, he stops popping it and lets the current take over. He will often open the bail of his spinning reel to let the current carry the cork until it empties into the bigger flow. Then, he’ll close the bail and begin popping it back to the boat.

For his third tip, Lacy (843-478-8216) said anglers should try topwater lures, especially early in the morning.

“Nothing gets your heart racing like seeing and hearing a trout blow up on a topwater lure first thing in the morning,” he said.

Banks with deep indentions, like ones found in the river upstream from Charleston Harbor, and even above the SC 41 bridge, are prime spots for topwater lures like Zara Spooks, She Dogs and the Glass Minnow Walking Bait.

Lacy said any time the tide is moving up or down as the sun is rising, fishermen should definitely start their days throwing topwater lures in these areas on the Wando.

Learn where South Carolina’s three top inshore species live and catch them all

“You’re gonna have to horse him out of there. Don’t give him any slack,” said Capt. Addison Rupert of Charleston’s Lowcountry Outdoor Adventures, coaching a client who was hooked up with a bull redfish around some wooden structure in the Wando River. A few minutes later, Rupert hoisted the 42-inch redfish aboard, then asked his client if she was ready to go for the speckled trout and flounder. They were after an “inshore slam.”

Rupert said the Wando is one of many places in the Lowcountry where a fisherman has a chance to catch a slam this month: redfish, speckled trout and flounder.

“Redfish love to hang out along grass lines and in deep holes near wooden structures. Speckled trout like moving water, especially areas with cross currents. Flounder prefer smooth sandy or muddy bottom with structure nearby,” he said. “The Wando has all of these, and it has them all close together.”

A moving tide is preferable for all three species, said Rupert, but he said flounder bite on a slack tide more readily than redfish or trout, so he concentrates on those two species when the tide is moving, then targets flounder at ebb tide.

This month, redfish are all over the Lowcountry, and they are feeding aggressively. Rupert targets them with live or cut bait.

“I know I’ll find some redfish near wooden structures, especially ones that are near deep holes, and the Wando is full of such structures,” said Rupert, who fishes with live mud minnows on jigheads, and with cut blue crabs. With a quarter of a crab threaded onto a 3/0 circle hook at the end of a Carolina rig, Rupert anchors down or ties up within casting distance of docks or old bridge pilings. He fan-casts a spread of several rods — some with blue crab and some with mud minnows — then waits for a bite.

If nothing bites in 15 or 20 minutes, Rupert moves, but sometimes it’s a very subtle move.

“Sometimes I’ll just move a few feet so I can reach another side of whatever structure I’m fishing. Other times, I’ll run downriver to another piece of structure,” he said.

When it’s time for trout, Rupert focuses on moving water. Points on the main river often feature different currents that collide, and Rupert targets them with popping corks and mud minnows. He casts into one current, lets the current carry the cork into the other, then reels the rig back in, making it pop all the way back, often drawing strikes from trout.

When using popping corks, Rupert likes to have an 18-inch leader under the cork; he said many anglers are too shy when it comes to popping the rigs.

“I want it moving the whole time. I let it settle, then pop it across the water. The trout come to check out the noise, see the bait, then hopefully bite it,” he said.

Flounder, Rupert said, are the most challenging of the three inshore slam species.

“They are more particular about where they hang out, and they are finicky biters compared to redfish and trout, especially this month when those two species are pretty aggressive,” he said.

But the Wando has plenty of spots where flounder like to gather, said Rupert, who looks for shallow water with a smooth bottom. A black, muddy bottom is good, but a white sandy one is just as good. He uses a Carolina rig with a 12- to 18-inch leader and a mud minnow for bait. He sticks with 12- to 15-pound test line and suggests casting the minnow out, then slowly working it back toward the boat. He cautions anglers not to set the hook too quickly.

“If they run away with it, then you need to set the hook right away, but if you just feel a slight tick, just be patient and let the fish take it in. Flounder don’t bite like other fish; they take longer to work the bait into their mouths,” Rupert said.

In the Wando, Rupert said it’s easy to find flounder spots. Some are between the docks of riverfront homes. Look for areas that have very gentle slopes from shore to deeper water. At low tide, some of this water is inches deep, even 30 or 40 feet from the shore. It’s flat and sandy, a welcome habitat for flounder. He finds other flounder spots with flat, muddy bottoms where undeveloped land meets the river, mostly along the left bank of the river heading upstream from Remley’s Point.

Rupert said other inshore slam hot spots this month include creeks around the Isle of Palms Marina and the grass-lined banks in the harbor out of Shem Creek’s public boat ramp.

Another Charleston-area guide, Capt. Amy Little of Fine Lines Charters, likes pursuing the inshore slam, often out of the Breach Inlet boat ramp on Isle of Palms. Many of her favorite redfish and trout holes are within sight of the ramp and include some of the old wooden pilings near private docks. She likes to tie up or anchor within casting distance of these structures, then uses corks to suspend her bait above the bottom. She also likes to target grass lines, especially ones with shell banks nearby.

“When I see a grass line near a shell bank, then notice a jut in the grass line that creates a hole or opening in the grass, I will give that area special attention. I expect to catch redfish tight to the grass there, and trout are usually hanging out just off the grass, between the grass and shell bank,” Little said.

When fishing these shell banks, Little almost exclusively uses corks, suspending her bait with 12- to 15-inch leaders.

“You want to keep your hooks off those shell banks to keep from getting hooked on the shells. The trout sometimes bite very lightly too, so the cork helps detect bites,” said Little, who doesn’t impart a lot of action into the popping corks when her bait — usually live mud minnows or live shrimp — is fresh. “Once the bait gets a little sluggish, I’ll start popping it some, but I usually let the bait do its own thing.”

Aside from areas around Breach Inlet, Little said the waters around the Pitt Street bridge are productive for the inshore slam.

“The bull redfish hang out along the pilings of the bridge, and the grass lines all around the bridge are good spots for redfish and trout,” she said. “Water flows under the bridge to the main waterway, and the bottom there is a combination of shell banks and smooth sand. Anchoring in one spot can be productive for all three inshore slam species.”

Castle Pinckney is another productive spot for Little. Letting her cork float along with the tide on the outskirts of the island is a good tactic for trout, but she also catches flounder on the bottom between the island and a nearby cluster of pilings. She said flatfish love hugging the bottom close to the rocks that line the island, looking for an easy meal to ambush.

“They like a flat bottom, but they like it even better if it’s near some sort of change in structure like rock piles or even shell banks,” she said.

Aside from live mud minnows, Little likes using artificial lures for redfish and flounder, especially soft plastics like Vudu Shrimp.

“These baits are really good. They work well and they stand up to abuse. You can catch dozens of redfish and trout on one of these without them tearing up,” said Little.

Like Rupert, Little prefers a moving tide for this type of fishing,and said the incoming is almost always best.

“At low tide, these fish are ready to move into the areas they haven’t had access to in several hours. They know food is waiting for them, and once the tide starts rising, these fish will come in and hit the shell banks, grass lines, and dock pilings to look for food that is only available on the incoming or high tide,” she said.

DESTINATION INFORMATION

HOW TO GET THERE/WHEN TO GO — The Charleston area is blessed with dozens of public boat ramps that allow great access to productive waters like the Wando River. The Remley Point ramp is on the Cooper River at the foot of the US 17 bridge in Mount Pleasant; it is close to the mouth of the Wando River. The Paradise Island landing is on CR 1453 off US 17 on the Wando. The Breech Inlet ramp is a pay ramp at Isle of Palms Marina. June is a great month to target an inshore slam because flounder and trout have arrived, and along with redfish, they are very active before water temperatures warm to true summer levels.

TACKLE/TECHNIQUES — Medium-action spinning or baitcasting tackle will get the job done on trout, reds and flounder. Carolina rigs are most-often used when targeting flounder using live bait. For trout, a live bait suspended under a popping cork can do the trick. Reds will also hit live bait on a jighead or under a cork, or crab chunks on a Carolina rig.

GUIDES/FISHING INFO — Capt. Addison Rupert, Lowcountry Outdoor Adventures, 843-557-3476, www.lowcountryoutdooradventures.com; Capt. Amy Little, Fine Lines Charters, 843-345-1310, www.finelinescharters.com; Haddrell’s Point Tackle, Mount Pleasant, 843-881-3644; Charleston Angler, Mount Pleasant, 843-884-2095; Isle of Palms Marina, Isle of Palms, 843-886-0209; Atlantic Game & Tackle, Mount Pleasant, 843-881-6900; Henry’s Sporting Goods, Mount Pleasant, 843-881-0465. See also Guides & Charters in Classifieds.

ACCOMMODATIONS — Hampton Inn & Suites, Mount Pleasant, 843-856-3900; Holiday Inn, Mount Pleasant, 843-884-6000; Seaside Inn, Isle of Palms, 888-999-6516; Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, Mount Pleasant, 888-856-0028; Shem Creek Inn, Mount Pleasant, 843-881-1000.

MAPS — Capt. Segull’s Nautical Charts, 888-473-4855, www.captainsegullcharts.com; Sealake Fishing; Guides, 800-411-0185, www.thegoodspots.com; Maps Unique, 910-458-9923, www.mapsunique.com.

Dutch Fork coach Reed Gunter hopes his team’s first state title trip isn’t its last one.

The Silver Foxes put up a fight against powerhouse Wando, but the Warriors’ depth and experience took over in the final two quarters in the 15-8 victory Saturday in the Class 5A state championship match.

It is Wando’s sixth state title and fourth in a row.

Dutch Fork finishes the year at 15-2, the most wins in the six-year history of the program.

“Even with the loss today, it is tremendous and so happy to be there,” Gunter said. “It shows the hard work we put in and all the effort. I don’t plan on this being the last time. We plan on being back.”

Jack Shipman and Logan Mitchell each scored five goals for Wando (12-4). The Warriors, who led 7-6 at halftime, took control in the third quarter by scoring four goals. They added four more goals in the fourth quarter.

Shipman scored as time expired in the quarter to give Wando an 11-6 lead after three.

“This means a lot to maintain some dominance in this state,” Wando's Lance Renes said. “We put a lot of work into the practices. And all that work gives us the confidence to do our best and paint a beautiful picture.”

“Really, in the second half, we let them get a lot of shots off in the crease,” Gunter said. “Too many times, they came out with a better offensive plan and decided to attack us in close. I guess we just weren’t prepared for it. And in the second half, their depth came into play and wore us down a little bit.”

Alex Walters led Dutch Fork with four goals, and Chance Hainey added two.

Dutch Fork trailed much of the first half but erased a pair of three-goal deficits. Walters had a hat trick in the first quarter, with his third goal tying it at 3 with 1:43 left in the quarter.

The Silver Foxes trailed 6-3 but goals by Jakob Lara and Austin Beasley cut it to 6-5 with 5:55 left in second quarter. Hainey tied it at 6 on a goal with 44 seconds left in the half.

Tommy Marcoon gave Wando a 7-6 lead 20 seconds later.

This story was originally published April 28, 2018, 4:58 PM.