Sydney Marine Group

Jim Wooder is the right man in the right place at the right time to propel the Port of Sydney to the fore in international shipping.

Wooder has a maritime law and an offshore oil and gas background, plus a knowledge of, and interest in, maritime activity. Combine that with an ability to take the proverbial bull by the horns to identify and act upon opportunities.

Within the next few years, Wooder and an enthusiastic team in the Sydney Marine Group could bring the economy of the Cape Breton industrial region to where it was in its heyday of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.

Sydney Marine Group is made up of six businesses that own or operate a terminal within the harbour, including Nova Scotia Lands, Nova Scotia Power, Logistec, Marine Atlantic, Laurentian Group and the Sydney Port Corporation.

The group has been working collaboratively for over three years, laying the foundation for the commercialization of Sydney harbour. A 2008 Master Port Plan identified numerous commercial opportunities for the Harbour, including the location of a container terminal on a Greenfield site at Sydport.

Dredging of the Harbour’s access channel to 17 metres is considered to be the “key enabling event” that will unlock the Port’s significant economic potential.

“Dredging of Sydney Harbour could be completed by the end of 2010,” says Wooder, chairman of the Sydney Marine Group. Dredging proposals are being reviewed now. The cost will be about $35 million.

Recent agreements with the key stakeholders at the ports of Philadelphia and Delaware are important developments in support of Sydney’s bid to construct a deep-water container terminal at Sydport, capable of accommodating giant post-Panamax vessels.

Philadelphia is a hub for distribution, centrally located to the populations of Washington, D.C., Baltimore and New York.

“We’re in a good spot,” Wooder continues, stressing that one of the main arguments for Sydney’s shipping potential is its location as the first mainland North American port of call for vessels crossing the Suez Canal. “We’ll be able to take large vessels in an unobstructed way, with no worry about tides or bridges to hamper us. We have the land space, rail connections and a major partner that can allow us to serve a large market.”

Under Wooder`s leadership, Sydney Marine Group commissioned a master port plan, costing about $400,000, prepared by Connecticut-based TEC Inc.

Wooder says that by bringing in TEC, “there were people who can see the opportunities (as consultants) that maybe we couldn’t, being so close to it.”

“The port has been underdeveloped, under-marketed and under-researched,” says Wooder. “There was no plan. I’m most proud today that we`ve supported each other, raised the funds to moved the port agenda forward and, unlike the past, are speaking clearly now, with a united voice.”

The year 2009 wasn’t a great one for shipping but as traffic recovers, the international shipping community is again looking at opportunities for Sydney, Wooder says.

Via Philadelphia, with feeder vessels and in combination with CN’s intercontinental network, Sydney can offer international shipping lines access to 65 per cent of the consumers in the United States.

“We know work is going on in other ports as everyone is scrambling to accommodate the big ships. As the first port of call from the Suez region, we think were in the game and have (met) the standard everyone else is trying to reach.”

He notes questions are always asked why projects “cannot” be done.

“The Sydney Marine Group always believed in the Port’s potential and has taken the view of why not Sydney and tackled the issues. The technical work has been done. The more we have Sydney’s name out there, the more people will understand the opportunities and appreciate that the port has a terrific future notwithstanding the demise of the coal and steel industries. In fact, with the recent announcements around the potential reopening of the Donkin mine, Cape Breton may well be back in the business of exporting coal in the very near term.”

Wooder says there are 2,500 jobs (direct and indirect), linked to the existing 1,200 annual port calls in Sydney, making the port an active economic engine for the region. With dredging and subsequent commercialization activities that are being pursued, that number could reach 7,500.

“We’ve learned that it’s a challenge and a lot of work to put a port like this on the international map. Sydney Marine Group has come together, stayed together, has a good vision, done its homework, and because of all that, good things will come.”