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CPA to extend Saipan Stevedore lease
The Commonwealth Ports Authority board will extend by 10 years their lease with Saipan Stevedore Co., the main shipping company at the Port of Saipan.
The lease was set to expire on July 21, 2015. The 10-year extension will push this to 2025.
CPA lawyer Matthew Gregory shared his written opinion on the renewal of the lease with the CPA board yesterday. The shipping company has exercised its option for an additional 10 years on its lease.
According to Gregory, after the 10 years there would have to be a new lease agreement. This mean stevedore services would then be open for new proposals.
Public Law 12-48 mandates that the maximum lease CPA can issue is a 40-year lease, he said. The renewal will bring the company to the end of this 40-year period.
“Well before that lease expires, we need to assess how we are going to proceed. But I would recommend that the board approve the renewal of the lease,” Gregory said.
When asked by a board member about negotiating a new lease, Gregory said that per the lease there was an automatic provision that makes no room for negotiation unless CPA tried to argue before a judge that they were prejudiced in some way.
On seeking other proposals, Gregory told the board that this process should be done in advance, or at least five years in advance in 2020. “Essentially, this is one entity that is loading and unloading everything at the port,” he said.
