The Port of Davisville is deep enough to accommodate ships that would serve an envisioned wind turbine assembly facility, a state official clarified Tuesday.
A consultant last week urged the General Assembly to exercise caution in its financial support of the offshore wind industry. Providence-based Deepwater Wind has plans to build a staging area at Quonset Business Park, which includes the Port of Davisville. The facility would serve Deepwater’s two planned offshore wind farms.
But the report, written by Martin Associates, said “Deepwater and port officials differ on whether dredging would be required.”
On Tuesday, Ames Colt, the state official who coordinated the study, said the consultant inserted that line in error. Colt, the chairman of the R.I. Bays, Rivers and Watersheds Coordination Team, said Deepwater and port officials spoke since the study’s release and agreed the port is deep enough.
Separately, Michael Miranda, owner of North Atlantic Distribution Inc. at the business park, agreed with the consultant that dredging is required to maintain the company’s booming automobile-importing business.
Currently, the port is 29 feet deep, according to Martin Associates. Miranda said that car-carrying ships require about 28 feet of draft and some additional wiggle room.
Last year, the ships delivered about 185,000 vehicles to the port, helping to make the port one of the largest auto-importers in North America.
Quonset officials have been discussing a plan for dredging, said a spokesman for the Quonset Development Corporation, which manages the park and port.
Martin Associates, however, urged the state not to ask the federal government to pay for the work. Doing so would force the port to implement the federal Harbor Maintenance Tax for the first time.
The lack of the tax encourages automakers to ship to Rhode Island, Miranda said.
“That’s what makes Rhode Island competitive with the rest of the market,” he said.
By Chris Barrett ( pbn )
[mappress]
Source: pbn, May 04, 2011;