The North Carolina State Ports Authority wants to study the feasibility of deeper water access at the Port of Wilmington.
SPA officials say the request has gone out to the Army Corps of Engineers.
Laura Blair works for the state ports authority. She said there are economic reasons for the study.
“What we know now is that other states, our competition if you will, ports in South Carolina and Georgia even ports in Florida are either studying deepening their channels or are actively deepening their channels now.”
Deeper water allows access for larger container ships which are becoming more common in the shipping industry.
Blair said this is the first step in a process that would take years to complete if the decision was made to move forward with a deepening project.