EASTPORT – The city’s international cargo port set a new record last week with a major pulp shipment to Asian ports.

Last week, 40 Federal Marine Terminal Inc. longshoremen, working in two shifts, loaded more than 19,000 metric tons of pulp aboard the cargo ship Star Ikebana. It was the largest shipment ever to leave the city’s port. The Baileyville-based Domtar Industries Inc. shipped the cargo to ports in China, Japan and Korea.

This year, the port has shipped more than 160,000 metric tons, and that number is expected to go higher.

“They are projecting between 250,000 and 260,000 tons for this year of wood pulp, the greatest amount of tons shipped through the port ever,” Port Director John Sullivan said Monday.

This is a major hurdle for the small port authority that began several years ago with a single downtown port. People were excited when that port loaded 5,000 metric tons of pulp aboard some of the first ships to dock in the city.

“This is one of the bright spots of the Down East economy,” George “Bud” Finch, Eastport city manager and vice-chairman of the port authority, said. “Originally when it was first dreamed of in the late 1970s early 1980s, a study funded by the Maine Department of Transportation projected a maximum of 60,000 tons [a year].

“So when people ask ‘Is the port successful?’ the answer is yes, because the average has been around 160,000 tons [per year].”

The city manager praised Domtar for the larger shipments. Last year, the company purchased the Baileyville pulp and paper mill from Georgia-Pacific Corp. “They are reaching further into the global markets in the area of pulp and paper,” he said. “And I think a lot of it has to do with Domtar’s goal of making the mill more productive and profitable.”

The $23 million Estes Head Port was completed in 1998, and is one of the deepest seaports in the United States. The 634-foot-long pier is closer to Europe than any other port in the country. Most of the cargo shipped from Eastport is pulp used in the papermaking process.

The city also has a downtown port, which is home to lobster boats and an occasional Navy ship that docks during the Fourth of July festivities. Organizers also hope to use that port to attract cruise ships.

But there is room for more development, and although they did not address specifics, both Sullivan and Finch said the port is talking with other shippers and they are looking at everything as potential cargo, from granite to gravel to rolled paper.

The port’s only limitation, Sullivan said, was warehouse space. Right now, he said, the port needs to expand its warehouse capabilities beyond the four they have.

Port officials are exploring partnerships with businesses that might consider building a warehouse on land at Estes Head.