Congress Comes to the Port

The MSC Texas idled outside of Charleston harbor at around 3:30 p.m. Monday. The large container ship would have to wait another three hours before attempting to enter the Charleston port. 

The ship missed the "tide window." Right now, large ships drawing 48-feet must wait until high tide to enter the port.

While staff at the Charleston Navigation Company gave the MSC Texas the news that would likely cost the ship owners money, U.S. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, and S.C. Republican Congressmen Tim Scott, Joe Wilson and Jeff Duncan met with local business leaders regarding the port in another room of 6 Concord St., the headquarters of piloting large ships through the harbor to the port. 

The congressmen were on a tour of the Charleston region's "economic assets," according to Scott, who represents the district.

"There are economic assets to the First Congressional District that lend itself to making America stronger and better and more competitive," Scott said.

Like the state's right-to-work status, the port has been fingered as one of the key economic drivers by politicians. But the harbor has not been dredged in recent years, threatening to topple that emblem of employment. 

Or put in simple terms, for every foot lost due to sediment building in the harbor, that's $10 million in cargo on every ship that can't be hauled in or out of the Charleston port, according to Charleston Navigation Co. Executive Director Capt. John E. Cameron. And with most of those ships leaving heavier than they arrived that affects the state and nation's economy, he added. 

To make matters more pressing, the Panama Canal's improvement project has affected ship building. According to Cameron, this means that in six years most container ships will be drawing 48-feet — a draft that can only be accommodated now at high tide in Charleston. 

But Scott didn't seem concerned about funding the port Monday.

"We've been very successful in getting the port funded and I think we'll be very successful in the future, but it's going to take basically a lot of effort on a lot of members' parts," Scott said. He added the S.C. Delegation "committed" to all of the state's economic assets.

Saying that earmarks "don't exist anymore," Scott said the process of funding dredging the harbor begins with having Congressional members visiting the state and learning about the economic assets.

McCarthy (R-Calif.) said this is "exactly why" he was invited down to South Carolina. 

"When you look to America there is a position for government to do some things and that happens to be with infrastructure," McCarthy said, adding the Charleston port would have to compete with other ports across the nation to secure funding.