Maine’s Port Authority recently released a detailed market analysis of the demand for ports and shipping services in the North Atlantic. Among the report’s conclusions:

• CONTAINER PORT CAPACITY IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC WILL NOT KEEP PACE WITH DEMAND, RESULTING IN UNACCEPTABLY HIGH PORT UTLIZATION, SEVERE PORT CONGESTION AND REDUCED PRODUCTIVITY.

• TO AVOID VESSEL DELAYS, OPERATE AT WORLD CLASS PRODUCTIVITY AND REMAIN COMPETITIVE, BY 2015 NORTH ATLANTIC PORTS WILL NEED TO ADD AT LEAST 43% ADDITIONAL CAPACITY THAN IS CURRENTLY PLANNED.

• OTHERS HAVE SIMILARLY DETERMINED THE NEED FOR A NEW CONTAINER PORT IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC, AND ARE PROCEEDING WITH ITS DEVELOPMENT. IF MAINE DOES NOTHING, THIS “WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY” WILL BE CLOSED AND MAINE’S ECONOMY WILL SUFFER.

The Port of Providence is perfectly situated to take advantage of these market trends, but only if our city and state leaders step up to protect and promote our marine industrial resources. If we instead allow condos to close off access to our port, our “window of opportunity” will be closed and Rhode Island’s economy will suffer.