Port of Portland commissioners are expected to approve a 25-year lease this week with ICTSI Oregon, Inc. for the operation of a 192-acre container and breakbulk facility at Terminal 6.

The Port of Portland has operated the multi-use terminal since 1974 and has contracted with Ports America for stevedoring services. The stevedoring will be transitioned over to ICTSI during the next nine months, port officials said.

The decision to move away from terminal operation into a landlord model was prompted by the port's desire to expand its business at the terminal, said port spokesperson Josh Thomas. Early last year, "K" Line withdrew its 5,500-TEU ships from Portland, resulting in the loss of direct calls to Japan. As the economy recovers, the port hopes to recapture some of that lost volume, Thomas said.

In addition, the port would like to attract new business once the Columbia River navigation channel-deepening project is completed at the end of the year. That project will lower the depths of the river channel from 40 to 43 feet.

"We see it as a vote of confidence in our future for a company such as ICTSI to place such an investment in our port," Thomas said.

ICTSI Oregon will pay the port $8 million upon closing of the lease agreement and $4.5 million in annual rent. The port will receive additional revenues as volumes increase.

Terminal 6 is currently used by the CKYH Alliance - consisting of COSCO, "K" Line, Yang Ming, and Hanjin - which calls with a weekly trans-Pacific Service. In addition, Hapag-Lloyd calls at the terminal every 10 days with a service to Latin America, Europe and the Mediterranean. Last fiscal year, the terminal handled 210,000 TEUs.

Evraz Oregon Steel Mills imports slab steel at the terminal for use at its fabrication facility in Portland's Rivergate Industrial Park. The company imported 533,000 tons of breakbulk steel during fiscal 2009.

ICTSI Oregon is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc., based in the Philippines. ICTSI operates 18 terminals in 13 countries. The Terminal 6 facility will be the company's first terminal operation in the United States.

-- The Cunningham Report