Charleston's love-hate relationship with cruise ships moved to the Statehouse floor last week.
The unexpected detour started during a discussion about the proposed $550 million borrowing plan for the Port of Charleston. During the back-and-forth, a local lawmaker raised questions about ultra-thrifty passengers and their impact on the Holy City.
Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, questioned the spending habits of Carnival Cruise Line customers during a Senate Transportation Committee meeting in Columbia, saying Charleston sees minimal financial gains from the cruisers who descend on the city's Historic District.
State Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, doesn't think the city is benefiting financially from the cruise industry. File/AP
"The city has to pick up trash and do all other sorts of things that come along with dumping a bunch of Carnival Sunshine passengers, which is one of the lowest-priced cruises that you can get," Senn told Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the State Ports Authority, during a question-and-answer session. Senn said the city "gets very little out of it."
"I think the last estimate I saw was $27 spent per passenger," she said.
Newsome, who was at the meeting to address concerns about a plan that would have the state borrow more than half a billion dollars for port improvements, told Senn the criticism is unwarranted.
"Charleston has 7 million tourists," Newsome said, adding the number of cruise passengers the port attracts is about 3.5 percent of that total, or roughly 250,000 annually. The pandemic has halted all cruises from Charleston and other U.S. ports for the past year.
"If someone can tell me what's the disproportionate impact these 250,000 people have relative to the 7 million people, I would obviously listen to that," Newsome said.
The city and the SPA entered into a non-binding agreement in 2010 that limits the port to 104 cruise ship visits a year and limits the size of any single pleasure vessel to no more than 3,500 passengers.
"As far as we're concerned, that's a very productive way of operating," Newsome said.
Jim Newsome is president and CEO of the S.C. State Ports Authority. File
The cruise industry historically accounts for about $8 million in operating cash flow for the SPA, which picks up the tab for all on-dock cruise operations and hires off-duty police officers to direct traffic near Union Pier Terminal where the ships dock.
"It's pretty self-contained on our facility," Newsome told Senn.
The SPA has been negotiating with Carnival for a long-term arrangement that would keep the the Miami-based company's ships sailing from Charleston for the next 20 years or more. Such a deal would help underwrite a new cruise terminal at Union Pier, although that long-stalled development is still being challenged in court by environmental and historic preservation groups.
Senn asked whether the SPA is working with Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg "as far as whether we want Carnival's presence to grow or to stay that long."
Newsome responded that the maritime agency will be transparent with city officials about any deal it strikes with the cruise line, but ultimately the decision rests with the SPA as long as it conforms to the limits it agreed to more than a decade ago.
"We are committed to manage the business at that scale," he said. "We pay for the infrastructure we think they (passengers) consume and, most importantly ... we will have an open dialogue (with the city)."
The conversation eventually returned to the topic at hand — whether South Carolina taxpayers should foot the bill for $550 million of port work, including a new rail yard serving the Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston and a barge operation that would move containers by water from the Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant to the train hub on the old Navy base.
The proposal has passed the Senate and now must make its way through the House. It's not clear whether Gov. Henry McMaster will sign the general obligation bond resolution, but he announced support for the rail yard project during his State of the State speech in January.
If approved, the state would repay the debt at a rate of $43 million a year for the next 15 years. The SPA estimates construction of the rail yard and barge operation could be finished in two or three years.
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Debate over Charleston port debt plan briefly veers off course at Statehouse - Charleston Post Courier
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