Jasper County and SSA Marine partnered in a $450 million port development deal in January, only to meet a legal fisticuffs from the S.C. State Ports Authority. Each side is now in its respective corner, waiting for a state Supreme Court decision to decide which has the right to develop 1,863 acres, owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation, on the Jasper County side of the Savannah River.
Due to state ethics rules, each legislator paid his or her own way to Panama, and was allowed $50 per day in meals from SSA Marine.
SSA Marine is one of the world's largest port developers and in 1990 broke ground on the Manzanillo International Terminal near the Colon Free Trade Zone on the Panama Canal.
Sens. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, and Dick Elliott, D-Myrtle Beach; and Reps. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort; William Bowers, D-Hampton; Jim Battle, D-Nichols; Thad Vires, R-Myrtle Beach; Nelson Hardwick, R-Surfside Beach; Liston Barfield, R-Conway; William D. Wither-spoon, R-Conway; Tom Dantzler, R-Goose Creek; Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston; Joan Brady, R-Columbia; and Jimmy Bales, D-Eastover, visited the terminal and met with SSA Marine and Panamanian government officials.
"If it can happen in Panama, then surely it can happen in Jasper County," Pinckney said Tuesday. "My colleagues were very impressed with the facility."
Last year, the terminal moved 1.6 million container units, compared with 1.7 million in Charleston and 1.6 million in Savannah.
The legislators flew to Panama on Thursday night and returned stateside Monday afternoon. On Friday, they toured the facility -- the Colon Free Trade Zone -- traveled down the famous canal and met with Panamanian officials, including Ricuarte Vasquez, the minister of economy and finance, whom Pinckney described as "the Alan Greenspan of Panama."
On Saturday, the legislators met with several businessmen who work with SSA Marine and local terminal employees. Sunday's itinerary was left open.
"I think they've seen something outside the state of South Carolina that is very impressive and used as a worldwide model," said Andy McLauchlan,
SSA Marine's vice president of marketing, who organized the trip. "I think it gave them an impression of what can be done in Jasper County."
The group stayed at a Marriott Hotel near the port facility and traveled via Delta.
"SSA does ports all over the world, so (the trip) was important not just to the Jasper issue, but the way we handle our ports here in South Carolina," Ceips said Tuesday. "I'm excited about the port in Jasper County. It means a lot of jobs to our region."
Limehouse, a representative from Charleston, was impressed with the company's impact in the surrounding community.
"In Charleston we have a well-run port as far as moving cargo, but the community outreach, I don't see that at all from the State Ports Authority," Limehouse said. "We have an apple in Charleston that's very productive, but by missing Jasper County, we're missing a very productive orange."
Jasper, SSA Marine and State Ports Authority officials have agreed that while Charleston serves a primarily European import market, a possible Jasper port would service Asian imports, as Savannah does.
The Ports Authority's board of directors and executive management were invited, but declined. The state agency was noncommittal Tuesday.
"I'm sure it was a very productive trip," spokesman Byron Miller said.
Jasper County officials also did not attend, but were excited about the potential impact.
"That trip represents a key step in our efforts to move the State Ports Authority toward a compromise with Jasper County and SSA Marine," Jasper County Administrator Andy Fulghum said. "I think anyone who sees what the Manzanillo terminal means to Panama would want to work with us and SSA Marine to make the same thing a reality in Jasper County."