SC Ports to 'pause' operations at Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal. Posted: Jun 25, 2026 / 11:00 AM EDT Updated: Jun 25, 2026 / 05:52 PM EDT NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) - The South Carolina Ports Authority issued a statement on Thursday about operations at the Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston. The Leatherman Terminal welcomed the first ship on April 9, 2021, and is located along the Cooper River, with a clear view from the Ravenel Bridge. The terminal adds 700,000 TEUs of annual throughput capacity in its current "Phase One" iteration. When fully built, the three-berth terminal would add 2.4 million TEUs of throughput capacity to the Port of Charleston. Plans to expand the port were discussed at a Port Authority board meeting on June 16. The site of the former WestRock Paper Mill, which permanently closed in August 2023, is slated for demolition and redevelopment to support port operations. News 2 spoke with the South Carolina Ports Authority about the operations at the Leatherman Terminal. SC Ports said that it plans to pause port operations at the Leatherman Terminal as of August 1, consolidating them to the Wando Welch and North Charleston terminals. SC Ports cited uncertainty in trading forecasts as affecting the volume that comes through the Port of Charleston, which affects the port's "cost competitiveness" for this short-term suspension. "We are working with our maritime partners to make this business decision to achieve long-term, sustainable growth," SC Ports President and CEO Micah Mallace said. "We all want to retain current business and attract new business to Charleston." SC Ports told News 2 that there is no concrete timeline for when operations at the Leatherman Terminal will resume, saying operations will resume when the cost of operating three terminals is justified by the volume coming through the port. News 2 was told that this change will not affect the customers of the Port of Charleston, and that all existing clients will have their operations shifted to either the Wando or North Charleston terminals. "As an economic driver and job creator for South Carolina, we remain focused on delivering exceptional service to our customers and generating growth," Mallace said. "The maritime industry, and the thousands of companies and people connected to our port, all depend on us - and we intend to deliver for them." S.C. Rep. Wendell G. Gilliard (D) said the drop in volume is a chain reaction from Washington. "It had a lot to do with the tariffs. Consumer confidence is low, folks are not spending, therefore companies are not ordering goods, manufacturing overseas is not producing, and consequently, there is less to ship to our shores," said Rep. Gilliard. In July of 2025, S.C. Ports reported a 3% increase in maritime cargo volume from the previous year. Since then, the International Trade Landscape has faces obstables like tariff wars and impacts of real wars across the globe. "The reason that consumer goods purchases have softened somewhat this year and over the last several years is because of increased uncertainty and costs surrounding new tariffs that have been implemented, as well as energy costs, which have gone up in 2026 and that impact transportation costs," said Joseph C. Von Nessen, a research economist with USC Darla Moore School of Business. S.C. Ports supports one in nine jobs statewide. They declined to comment on what will happen to the hundreds of port workers who operate out of the Leatherman Terminal, but experts say the suspension will likely be short-lived. The port authority is one of the biggest economic drivers in the state, bringing in around $87 million annually, and is expected to bounce back from the slump. "What we're seeing now is largely a reaction to short-run uncertainties to rising prices that are affecting markets, particularly the demand for consumer goods," said Von Nessen. "But this does nothing to change our long-run forecast, which is very bullish for South Carolina and for the Southeastern United States, especially South Carolina, which is very competitive."

Electra completes first urban flight of hybrid-electric Ultra Short aircraft in downtown Charleston, signaling a new era of regional air travel. Flight shows how Electra's regional shuttle, which can take off and land in 150 feet, unlocks Direct Aviation, a new model of regional travel that takes people from where they are to where they want to go Electra, the global leader in ultra-short hybrid-electric aviation, announced the successful completion of the first urban demonstration of its Ultra Short airplane at the Columbus Street Terminal, offering a real-world look at how regional air travel can move beyond airports to become faster, simpler, and far more accessible. Hosted by SC Ports during the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Americas, the flight highlights how Electra's hybrid-electric propulsion and blown-lift technology enable takeoffs and landings in 150 feet or less, opening up entirely new places for air services to operate, called Ultra Short Access Points, like parking lots, rooftops, fields, and barges. While Electra's EL2 technology demonstrator completed the flight, Electra's flagship EL9 nine-passenger aircraft will ultimately serve as a regional shuttle to fill the regional mobility gap. "This demonstration is about showing what's possible in the real world for urban/suburban airspace access," said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra. "When you can offer air services close to where people live, work and play, that opens the door to transformative options for regional mobility. It is new way to travel that's more direct, flexible, and much easier to use." This new approach is called Direct Aviation - a model that targets the more than 35 million daily trips that fall between driving and flying on routes where travelers can save hours by going direct without the usual friction of commercial air travel. It's designed for a wide range of travelers, from business professionals looking to save hours in a day, to families trying to make the most of a weekend getaway, or anyone who wants to stay connected to loved ones without turning a short trip into an all-day journey. The Charleston demonstration builds on Electra's recent release of the first-ever Direct Aviation Market Outlook, a nationwide analysis of U.S. travel patterns that quantifies the scale of regional mobility demand and outlines how Direct Aviation will reshape it. The report uncovers a massive opportunity: tens of millions of trips happen every day at distances that are too long to drive efficiently but poorly served by traditional aviation. These are exactly the kinds of trips where Direct Aviation will cut hours off door-to-door travel times. Among routes with at least 1,000 travelers per day, the analysis identifies: * 1,851 routes with more than one hour of potential time savings * 540 routes with more than two hours of potential time savings * 227 routes with more than three hours of potential time savings Earlier this year, Electra was selected as an inaugural participant in the U.S. Department of Transportation's Advanced Air Mobility pilot operations program (the "eIPP"), which is accelerating the safe deployment of Advanced Air Mobility aircraft. As part of that effort, Electra is working with public and private partners on groundbreaking demonstrations including connecting urban and regional destinations in Florida and linking metropolitan centers in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The company also supported the submission from the State of Louisiana. About Electra.aero Electra.aero, Inc. (Electra) is an advanced air mobility (AAM) company building hybrid-electric Ultra Short airplanes that deliver unprecedented performance advantages to fly people and cargo seamlessly without airports, emissions, or noise. With the EL9 Ultra Short, Electra is pioneering Direct Aviation, the next level of connectivity that brings air travel closer to where sUAS News live, work, and play. Electra's Ultra Short technology delivers 2.5x the payload and 10x longer range with 70% lower operating costs than helicopters and eVTOLs with significantly greater safety and far less certification risk. Electra's team includes some of the most respected and successful entrepreneurs and engineers in novel aircraft design, with over 40 prior aircraft successfully developed and/or certified. Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell, and Safran are among Electra's strategic investors along with Prysm Capital, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), and other private investors. Electra's contracted customers include the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and NASA along with over 2,200 letters of intent from 60+ commercial customers, including both airlines and helicopter operators.

SC Ports to address flooding, expand cargo opportunities with vehicle export move. Posted on May 18, 2026 MOUNT PLEASANT - The State Ports Authority will move some of its vehicle export operations to North Charleston to help protect Upstate-built BMWs and other cars from flooding while also freeing up space at the Port of Charleston's current - and low-lying - export hub for new cargo. The authority's board of directors on Friday approved a $720,000 design contract for rail and cargo yard improvements at the port's North Charleston terminal. That's the first step toward moving some vehicle exports away from Columbus Street Terminal along the Cooper River in downtown Charleston. The project aligns with the authority's goal of generating new revenue from existing property by making Columbus Street available for additional breakbulk cargo - that is, cargo that doesn't fit into containers. "We made a commitment to our various constituencies - our board and the regional supply chain entities that depend on us to grow - that we would focus our investment on immediate revenue-generating opportunities or capacity," said Micah Mallace, the authority's president and CEO, adding this is the first of several expected announcements. "We'll find creative new ways to monetize our real estate, which we have a fair amount of," he said. "This is the first one." The authority's plans also include demolition starting this summer of the old WestRock paper mill, which is adjacent to the North Charleston terminal. The authority bought the roughly 280-acre paper mill site for $105 million two years ago after WestRock shut down the facility following 86 years of operation. Rail improvements are planned on the old paper mill site so state-owned Palmetto Railways can help Norfolk Southern and CSX Corp. move vehicles to the new vehicle export center. The expanded rail service "builds on existing rail infrastructure and improves capacity for future cargo growth," said Patrick McCrory, president and CEO of Palmetto Railways. McCrory said the short-line railroad, a division of the state's Commerce Department, will also collaborate with the authority on future cargo opportunities at Columbus Street Terminal. Flooding has vexed Columbus Street Terminal for years, and the maritime agency has spent millions looking for a solution to protect vehicles parked there waiting to be shipped overseas. In 2024, for example, hundreds of BMWs parked at the terminal were damaged by saltwater intrusion. Last year, the authority's board approved spending nearly $400,000 to study raising the elevation of Columbus Street Terminal. The authority also installed machinery to move water off the 155-acre site, purchased removable barriers to divert floodwater away from vehicles and spent $2 million to pave a backup staging area for BMW exports at the Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston. Mallace said the North Charleston Terminal plan "absolutely" would help mitigate flooding concerns. Columbus Street Terminal, which dates to the late 1950s, also serves Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans as well as several breakbulk customers. The terminal, which has the capacity to move more than 250,000 vehicles annually, has handled 116,328 exported vehicles through the first nine months of this fiscal year, which started July 1. Work to create a vehicle export site in North Charleston will start next year, with operations expected to begin in 2028. The authority's board also approved a demolition contract for the WestRock paper mill site that will also address asbestos remediation. Demolition costs will be covered by selling scrap materials from tearing down the paper mill. The maritime agency has long-term plans to add more container cargo to the site where the WestRock mill once operated. But before that expansion can take place, the state's Department of Transportation will have to replace the Don Holt Bridge over the Cooper River to make room for the tall container ships that now visit U.S. ports. Those plans are in the early stages. Vessels that carry vehicles don't need the higher bridge clearance. The authority's board also heard an update on the port's cargo levels, which continue to be roiled by global tariff and economic concerns. The port's marine terminals handled 102,246 cargo containers of all sizes in April. That's the second-lowest during the current fiscal year and a 13.5% drop from the same month a year earlier. Revenue is down about 4% so far this fiscal year, due largely to the drop in container volumes. The problem isn't limited to Charleston's port. Projections by the National Retail Federation show U.S. ports saw a 3.6 percent year-over-year drop in imports in April. "With inflation rising and consumer confidence falling among global economic uncertainty driven by the conflict in Iran, the overall trend of lower imports is expected to continue after that," Jonathan Gold, the federation's vice president for supply chain and customs policy, said in a written statement. Maritime analyst Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates, said retailers are cautious about building up inventories. "Containerized imports in the first quarter were down year over year, and forward demand is weakening," Hackett said in a written statement.