2 U.S. firms on short list to operate terminals

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The list of U.S. companies most prepared to operate terminals at six ports DP World planned to take over is short.

SSA Marine and Maher Terminals appear to be candidates to operate ports in New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami, Philadelphia and Newark, N.J., after the decision by DP World yesterday to end weeks of political controversy by divesting itself of the terminals.

Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, satisfied lawmakers who opposed DP World's takeover of terminal operations when he read a statement on the Senate floor signaling the company's decision to bow to pressure from Congress.

But when Mr. Warner said DP World plans to transfer U.S. operations "to a United States entity," it left lawmakers and people in the shipping industry wondering which company he was talking about.

That's the question everyone is asking, said John Ullyot, Mr. Warner's spokesman.

"I don't know if they have a buyer lined up or if they're looking for one," Mr. Ullyot said.

DP World last week completed its $6.8 billion purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., the British firm that through a U.S. subsidiary runs the U.S. port operations. It also plays a lesser role in dockside activities at 16 other American ports.

SSA Marine and Maher Terminals are the likely buyers, said Peter S. Shaerf, managing director of merchant banking firm AMA Capital Partners LLC, in New York.

"There are only a couple of obvious suspects in the U.S. stevedoring industry," he said.

SSA Marine, a privately held family-owned firm in Seattle, is the world's ninth-largest terminal operator, based on the number of containers handled, and the largest U.S. operator of terminals. It operates 105 terminals worldwide, and seven of the 100 terminals at the top 100 U.S. ports.