Grapes and national
security: Tioga Marine Terminal

By Bob Finkelstein
For the Times

As a stormy debate raged in the nation’s capital two weeks ago over whether to allow a company owned by an Arab government to operate six U.S. ports, it was business as usual at the Port of Philadelphia facility that became part of the controversy, the Tioga Marine Terminal.
About 40 local longshoremen were busy unloading the hold of the Rauma Reefer, a 475-foot refrigerated cargo ship laden mostly with grapes from South America. The ship was making its first stop on a round-trip voyage from Chile, the U.S.’s fifth-largest fresh fruit supplier.
The workers, members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, Local 1291, in Philadelphia, operated the ship’s onboard cranes, lifting cartons stacked on pallets from the hold and lowering them to the dock below. After they touched ground, a forklift appeared and carried them off to a climate-controlled warehouse about 100 feet away.
The work, which had begun at about 7 a.m., was aimed at keeping the ship on schedule, including a second stop to drop off the remaining fruit at a terminal in Gloucester City, N.J., south along the Delaware River. All the stops along the way are reserved, including the passage both ways through the Panama Canal, and missing a reservation would mean a costly delay.
"This vessel makes money traveling from port to port," said Patrick Kryszczak, a terminal manager for Delaware River Stevedores, the company that operates the facility for the Port of Philadelphia. "The quicker we can unload her, the quicker she can get on her way and earn something."
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So goes a typical mid-winter and early spring day at Tioga, when the 96.5-acre facility at East Tioga Street’s end in Port Richmond plays a major role supplying the nation with fresh fruit. From December through May, Tioga, along with the terminal in Gloucester City and a third in Wilmington, Del., turns the region into the East Coast’s largest point of entry for imported fresh fruit, serving an area reaching south to Maryland and Arkansas, west to the Mississippi River and north into Canada.
Although there are seven terminals along the seven-mile stretch of waterfront that makes up Philadelphia’s port, receiving everything from cocoa beans to automobiles, Tioga handles the most fruit. It receives nearly 100 ships a year and is busiest during the cold winter months.
Tioga was built in the 1970s and was specially outfitted with storage facilities to handle perishable material in the 1990s. It holds four warehouses with a total area of about 520,000 square feet. Three of those warehouses are refrigerated, helping ensure that the fruit does not ripen until it reaches its final destination.
"We try to preserve the cold chain to maximize the shelf life," Robert Palaima, president of Delaware River Stevedores, said of the fruit shipments.
Two of the warehouses also have been outfitted with fumigation systems, so certain fruits, such as grapes, can be sprayed with pesticides to comply with USDA standards.
The facility also is equipped with two massive cranes for unloading containers from the decks of ships. However, the ability of ships to come stacked with containers is limited because of the low clearance of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, so most of what arrives is packed in bulk form and stored below deck.
About 60 percent of what Tioga imports is fresh fruit from Chile, which has a growing season that is a mirror opposite of the U.S. growing season. Mainly grapes are imported, but also peaches, strawberries, nectarines and apples.
"Almost all of the fresh fruit available around here (in the winter) comes from Chile, and a good portion of that comes through Tioga," Palaima said.
If a person in Philadelphia is buying grapes, strawberries or peaches in the winter, "there’s a very good chance" it passed through Tioga, he said.
The fruit spends about two to three weeks traveling from Chile to its final destination, and its time at Tioga is brief. Most of what arrives on Tioga’s dock will be hauled out in refrigerated trucks within a day or two, although parts of some shipments may remain as long as a couple of weeks.
The facility also handles lumber and plywood and rolled steel used by manufacturers. Two Navy ships that transport war equipment like tanks and Jeeps also dock there when in Philadelphia. The facilities for loading those ships, however, are located downriver at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
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In spite of this seemingly innocuous cargo, Tioga became part of a recent debate on national security after London-based Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation (P&O) agreed to be bought by Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates, in mid-February.
P&O had interests in companies operating facilities at six U.S. ports, including Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans and Miami. In Philadelphia, P&O owned a 50 percent interest in Delaware River Stevedores, a company with a lease to operate the Tioga facility.
Responding to U.S. critics of the deal, Dubai Ports World said late last week it would transfer its interests in the six ports to a U.S. company.
Security experts had cited several areas of concern in port security. They might serve as a point of entry for terrorists or materials for weapons of mass destruction. Ships carrying important cargo might be attacked by an explosive-laden boat, or information about port operations could compromise national security.
Proponents of the deal involving Tioga said it would have had little impact, in part because U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard are the front line of port security.
"The bottom line is that it is business as usual," said Leah Yoon, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, before Dubai Ports World announced it would transfer ownership of the U.S. operations. "I cannot stress enough that the change in ownership will not affect the security of our nation’s ports. Security is carried out by the U.S. government."
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. implemented new rules requiring information to be submitted on every piece of cargo that enters the U.S. That data is analyzed by several government agencies to find "high risk" shipments, and customs agents in the U.S. or overseas are notified if an inspection is needed.
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About 5 percent of the containers that enter the U.S. are inspected, up from about 4 percent prior to 9/11, according to Kim Petersen, president of SeaSecure, a port security consultant based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Prior to 9/11, no information was collected on crewmembers entering U.S. ports on ships. Now ships must submit a list of all crew members at least 96 hours in advance of a ship’s arrival, and the Coast Guard follows up with identification checks.
To be sure, the port operator plays a role in maintaining port security. They work with the Coast Guard and customs officials to develop security plans, and ensure that unauthorized people do not enter the facility.
Some security experts said they were concerned a new owner could put employees in place who had links to terrorists, compromising those functions.
"Say you get someone that’s infiltrated a commercial port operator," said Earl Freilino, a security consultant with the Delaware River Marine Enterprise Council, which advises the Port of Philadelphia on shipping issues. "They can identify people for being converted or used in some way. That’s when you start having problems."
Palaima, the president of Delaware River Stevedores, said that scenario was unlikely, because ownership changes had little impact on local operations. The company’s ownership has changed three times since he became president in 1991, with no effect on local management or dock workers.
"(Delaware River Stevedores has) always been an independently managed company," Palaima said. "We make our own local hiring decisions." ••