FLORENCE - A company that announced in January it will develop a $250 million intermodal inland port system in South Carolina is actively seeking land for its project in the Pee Dee.

CaroLinks (Carolina Linkages), a supply chain and logistics company, is planning to develop a system of inland cargo container ports.

The company confirmed Wednesday that it has contacted several economic developers in the Pee Dee in search of tracts that meet the criteria for the project.

"We are aggressively looking at sites in South Carolina," said Lucy Duncan-Scheman, chief executive officer of CaroLinks. "But we're not limiting our search to South Carolina. We're looking in Georgia and North Carolina, too."

The idea of building an inland port to handle cargo containers from the Charleston, Wilmington, N.C., and Savannah, Ga., ports somewhere in the Pee Dee has received plenty of interest during recent weeks.

Last week, Marion County officials revealed that the Myrtle Beach land development company Burroughs & Chapin is looking at plans to build a 17,000-acre inland port complex, which would start with an inland port and eventually include a large industrial airport.

The company has not bought any of the land it would need for the project, but is negotiating with property owners to secure options on the property between Marion and Sellers.

Others are considering the same idea because the ports are running out of room for the increasing numbers of cargo containers shipping in and out of Charleston, Wilmington and Savannah.

Last week, Darlington County Economic Developer Dave Bailey said he had been contacted by the South Carolina Ports Authority about purchasing up to 3,500 acres with rail access.

On Wednesday, Ports Authority officials said they're not looking to develop any inland ports in the state.

"The Ports Authority is not seeking to acquire any land for any inland port," said Byron Miller, spokesman for the Ports Authority. "We need to make it clear that we're not looking for any property."

Bailey actually was contacted by a representative from Carolina Linkages looking for the property.

He said he submitted proposals for two sites in Darlington County that might meet the company's criteria.

Last month, Duncan-Scheman revealed that the first part of CaroLinks' development was accomplished already with the acquisition of options on 85 acres at Shipyard Creek in Charleston. The company is evaluating options on at least two more sites in South Carolina, including 800 acres in Orangeburg.

Bailey confirmed Wednesday that it was CaroLinks who contacted him about Darlington County sites that might fit the bill.

Meanwhile, Duncan-Scheman said her company is still looking for any properties that might meet the criteria for an inland port.

"We've had a number of teams looking all over the place at sites that meet the criteria, and we're still looking for others to evaluate," she said.