This version is updated with comments from Sen. Bill Rabon and a correction stating that the Port of Wilmington only will be expanded to accommodate post-Panamax container ships.

With the ink dry on North Carolina’s new biennial budget, the N.C. State Ports Authority knows it has $35 million per year in the pipeline, earmarked for modernization and capacity enhancement.

The line item in state's spending plan that Gov. Pat McCrory signed last week marked a shift in the approach to funding for ports projects. The $35 million included in each of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 budgets from the highway fund comes several years since the state sent project money to the ports from the general fund. For operations, the ports authority does not in general receive state appropriations, generating most of its own money as a self-sufficient entity.
 
“We are very appreciative of the support that we are seeing from the State level,” ports spokesman Cliff Pyron said in an email this week about the new funds.

Sen. Bill Rabon (R-Brunswick) initially sponsored a bill earlier in the session to make the $35 million an annually recurring stream of money to the ports. The measure stalled in the House, but the funding was picked up as part of the overall state budget.

"It's long overdue," Rabon said. "Until now, North Carolina was the only state on the East Coast that did not have dedicated revenue to the ports."

Recurring funds are expected to help port officials plan projects and better know what to expect from the state, compared to the previous system in which occassional one-time appropriations from the general fund would have to work their way through the General Assembly, Rabon said.

“This support will assist in funding a multi-year, extensive infrastructure investment plan," Pyron said about the recently adopted state budget.

That infrastructure plan will address what the ports must do to handle the newest generation of ships – called post-Panamax – that will ply the oceans once the Panama Canal expansion is complete.
 
The goal, Pyron continued, is to enable the Port of Wilmington to accommodate multiple post-Panamax container ships and to increase the speed and efficiency of loading and unloading the vessels.
 
“Construction is underway as we explore a few new markets to us. Both the Port of Wilmington Cold Storage Facility and the Enviva Wood Pellet domes are unique opportunities slated to be operational by early 2016. Specific improvements to the Port of Wilmington include the replacement of Berth 8, the installation of new post-Panamax container cranes and major enhancements to Berth 7. We’re also installing a submerged toe wall at Berth 9 to plan for future infrastructure improvements,” he said.
 
Those improvements, Pyron said, will help the ports accomplish the goals laid out in ports CEO Paul Cozza’s five-year strategic plan.

“A few of those objectives in his blueprint for success are doubling the container business to around 500,000 TEUs [20-foot equivalent unit] and expanding business on the general terminals by four million tons,” Pyron said. “Growth will eventually stem from the infrastructure investment plan funded, in part, by the recent investment made by the State.”
 
The total of $70 million over two years will enable the ports to grow at a faster pace, serving existing global customers as well as working to recruit new ones, according to Pyron.

“We hope to lure more shipping lines/services to N.C. Ports as our location, best in-class customer service, and improving infrastructure make us an ideal long-term shipping partner,” he said. “Our efficiencies continue to be a big selling point for our ports. With less than 40-minute dual turn times and 45 net crane moves per hour, we not only represent a model of operational excellence, but also one of the most productive ports on the U.S. East Coast.”
 
Those efficiencies, state ports officials have said, worked to North Carolina’s advantage during the West Coast ports’ labor slowdowns in the past couple of years.

Vicky Janowski contributed to this story.