Detroit Port Reportedly Set to Reopen With New Management
he Detroit Marine Terminal, a formerly bustling port that shut down a year ago due to a financial crisis, is scheduled to reopen this month under new management and a new name, the Detroit News reported Saturday.
The new terminal, to be known as the Port of Detroit, is part owned by the same group that owns the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, the paper said.
Ambassador Port Co. an affiliate of CenTra Inc., agreed to pay off $3 million in bonds that the port’s previous owner defaulted on, in exchange for becoming a managing partner, the paper said.
Dan Stamper, a director of Ambassador Port Co. and president of Detroit International Bridge Co., which owns and operates the Ambassador Bridge, told the paper that by vessel is about 20% cheaper than rail, truck or air service.
The port's previous owner, Detroit Marine Terminals Inc., defaulted on the bonds as U.S. tariffs and booming demand in China drove up the price of steel, the terminal's main import, and companies cut back on shipping, the newspaper reported.
Michigan has more than 40 commercial ports, and the Detroit River is responsible for moving about 80 million tons of cargo annually, the News said, citing Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority statistics.
