Oil Dock 15 groundbreaking looks to port’s future

The building and leasing of Oil Dock 15 marks a new business model for the Port of Corpus Christi. Dignitaries from the Port of Corpus Christi and Martin Midstream Partners broke ground for the new dock on the north side of the Inner Harbor in Corpus Christi, Thursday, July 14. 
“We’ve gone to a more traditional landlord/port model,” said Sean Strawbridge, chief operating officer at the port. “The port takes a piece of property it owns, develops it for the customers and enters into long-term lease agreement, with exclusive use.” 
While the port is building the dock, Martin Midstream will run the pipeline from their own nearby tank farm to the property. The port will install the vapor recovery system, loading arms and the rest, all built to accommodate the larger “supermax” ships now coming through the newly opened, bigger Panama Canal. 
Before those ships can make use of Oil Dock 15, however, the port will have to complete a dredging project to take the current 45-foot depth to 52 feet. The new Harbor Bridge will also have to be complete, Strawbridge said, since the dock is on the inland side. Until then, smaller ships will be able to use the dock. 
“The current bridge is only 138 feet,” Strawbridge said. “The new one will be 205 feet, matching the Centennial Bridge crossing the Panama Canal.” 
The bridge is one of the main reasons Martin Midstream needs Oil Dock 15. The support structure on the north side of the bridge will rise from Cargo Dock 10, a dry cargo dock the company has been using with the help of barges. The new structure will not require a barge to assist with loading crude oil. 
When completed about year from now, Oil Dock 15 will be able to accommodate trans-loading through a new 24-inxh pipeline from Martin’s 900,000 barrel POCC crude oil terminal. With it’s 1,100 foot slip, it will be capable of loading 30,000 barrels of crude per hour. 
Martin Midstream Partners LP collects, transports, stores and distributes petroleum products and by-products for independent oil and gas companies. It operates primarily in the Gulf Coast region and was one of the Port’s top five customers last year.
“This is another example of why Corpus Christi is such an exciting place to be right now as we see more large industrial investment in the region,” Strawbridge told Corpus Christi Business News. “The port will continue to facilitate that growth in a responsible way with projects like this.” 
What Strabridge calls a “new business paradigm” of developing property for lease will help provide more long-term stability in terms of port revenue.
“This is a more common model in the landlord port space,” Strawbridge said. “The port has historically been land rich and cash poor. That’s changed. Our balance sheet is much stronger now. We can now develop property and charge to lease it.”