Peabody Energy and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners announced long-term agreements to expand the Gulf Coast export platform for Peabody's Colorado, Powder River Basin and Illinois Basin coal products, they said. The deal gives Peabody additional access to Kinder Morgan's Deepwater Terminal and Houston Bulk Terminal (HBT) near Houston, and its International Marine Terminal (IMT) in Myrtle Grove, La., to export coal, increasing Peabody's Gulf Coast export capacity to about 5-7 million tons of coal per year between 2014 and 2020. Peabody said it also secured a rail service agreement with Union Pacific Railroad to transport the company's Colorado coal to Kinder Morgan's Houston terminals. Kinder Morgan will invest, including previously announced projects, about $400 million to expand its Gulf Coast terminal network. Peabody's Illinois Basin, Colorado and Powder River Basin coal will be exported through KMP's expanded IMT in New Orleans beginning in 2014. An existing agreement at the Cora river terminal in Illinois will be extended through 2018 to facilitate exports through IMT.

Charleston's Post 45 Harbor Deepening Project is expected to be completed sooner and cost less, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Charleston District said July 11. It said the deepening project's feasibility study, initially expected to be completed in 5-8 years, is now expected to be finalized in fewer than four years, so a 50-foot deepening project for Charleston Harbor can be finished four years earlier than initial projections. The Corps also announced a cost savings of about $5 million for the feasibility study.

The Port of Galveston said it received 8 bids for work on its Pier 16 Wharf Extension project. It said it expects to award contract within 60 days.

The Port of Oakland will receive more than $3.5 million in Federal Port Security Grant funding for three new projects, port officials said. The grant requires a 25% cost share from the port and must be completed within a two-year period. The grants mean "the port will significantly enhance its capability to prepare, prevent, respond and recover from incidents in the maritime area," said Port Facilities Security Officer Mike O'Brien. The projects include: (1) Expansion of the port's Geospatial Security Mapping System/Geographic Information System, which was developed to streamline incident management for first responders and public safety agencies. (2) Enhance maritime domain awareness via augmentation of the port's CCTV system and expansion of Emergency Operation Center technological capabilities. (3) Addition to the fiber optic network to expand communications service and provide system redundancy.

The South Carolina Ports Authority said it's working to develop an inland port in Greer, S.C., to improve the efficiency of international container movements between the Port of Charleston and elsewhere. The SCPA board authorized the negotiation of a preliminary engineering contract with Patrick Engineering, in the first step in the project, SCPA said. The SCPA's fiscal year 2013 capital plan included about $23.5 million in capital spending for the public-private partnership.

Two new incentives to encourage trade at the Port of Long Beach were approved July 2 by the Board of Harbor Commissioners. One is designed to encourage larger, cleaner ships to dock at the Port, and the other aimed at attracting more containers to come via rail through Long Beach. Under the programs, which launch Aug. 1, the largest ships calling at the Port will have their daily dockage fees capped, and ocean carriers who move additional containers via rail through Long Beach will get incentives. The port will cap daily dockage fees at $8,641 for ships longer than 345 meters (1,132 feet). Without the change, the largest vessels would pay more than $11,000 a day in dockage fees. Ships that qualify under the port's Green Ship Award Program may earn up to $6,000 more in incentives. Ocean carriers also will save on rail cargo costs under a program that will give them a $10 incentive for every additional container they move via rail through Long Beach between Aug. 1, 2012, and July 31, 2013, compared to the previous one-year period.

The Port Commissioners for the Port of San Diego adopted a $150.6 million budget for fiscal year 2012-2013. Port officials said the budget emphasizes growth of its maritime business operations.

Virginia International Terminals said it implemented new terminal operating software at the Port of Richmond that provides real-time data via iPad on cargo to the terminal operator and customer. The software, called Navis SPARCS N4, unites the terminal's entire operating system in a single format, providing data on truck and barge moves in real-time to users, it said.

The current expansion will double the Panama Canal's capacity, and the "resulting economy of scale advantage for larger ships will likely change the logistics chains for both U.S. imports and exports," said Robert Pietrowsky, director of the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources, in a report to Congress June 20 on "U.S. Port and Inland Waterways Modernization: Preparing for Post-Panamax Vessels."

The San Diego Board of Port Commissioners approved $6.2 million in projects June 20 to be funded as part of the Capital Improvement Program, including: Demolition design for the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal: $500,000. The improvements alone are projected to eventually cost $6.2 million. Modernization of the Crosby Street Pier and relocation of staff at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal: $2.55 million. $1 million for design work for the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan.