North Carolina's secret weapon in the Ukraine war: Military munitions shipments increase at Sunny Point

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — As the United States increases its $25.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine, an obscure port on the North Carolina coast is proving to be a major player in the munitions shipments and in the logistical battle in the war following the Russian invasion. in 2022.

The world's largest military port is nestled along the west bank of the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County near the town of Southport. Known to locals simply as Sunny Point, the Sunny Point Military Marine Terminal handles the import and export of weapons, ammunition, explosives, and military equipment for the United States military.

Sunny Point is well known to locals, but with so many new residents moving to the area each year – not to mention constant vacationers to the coast – the harbor is neither known nor mysterious to many.

Hidden behind the 16,000 acres of high security is a complex of bunkers where bombs and other explosives are stored to separate them from other groups in the event of an explosion.

The entire Sunny Point complex – which has its own military rail line – has a three-mile firing zone to help protect a rapidly growing population from blasts from objects such as rockets , missiles, howitzers, grenades, projectiles and pyrotechnics.

The blast area extends east across the Cape Fear River to Pleasure Island in New Hanover County, where nothing is allowed to build.

Sunny Point is the primary munitions shipping point on the Atlantic Coast, the Army's primary deep-water port on the East Coast, and one of the few Department of Defense terminals equipped to handle containerized munitions.

Expedition to Sunny Point since the invasion of Ukraine

Since 2019, the port has seen a more than 50% increase in tonnage shipped, according to data provided to CBS 17 by the 596th Transportation Brigade, which oversees Sunny Point.

Shipments to Ukraine last month included 2.1 million artillery rounds, about 5,000 air defense missiles, 308,000 anti-tank rounds or systems and 408 million small arms rounds, according to the US Transportation Command, who oversees Sunny Point.

In a high-profile report released in late 2022, U.S. General Transcom said Sunny Point handled 2,000 containers of munitions and other equipment bound for Europe during the first months of the war.

The amount of ammunition and other military equipment shipped to Sunny Point has skyrocketed since 2020, when 120,522 tons were processed. In 2022 and 2023, that number was about 183,000 each year, the 596th Transportation Brigade reports.

Built during the Korean War, Sunny Point serves as a transfer point between trucks, railroads and ships to move weapons, military equipment and munitions.

With three berths, the terminal can handle six container ships simultaneously and has greater munitions handling capacity than all other Department of Defense munitions terminals combined.

Safety concerns on the North Carolina coast

Poland has recently witnessed a series of fires, and authorities have been investigating whether these could be the result of sabotage carried out by Russian or Belarusian intelligence in response to Polish support for Ukraine .

“Wherever we fight, that's where we're probably sending or receiving cargo,” Steven Kerr, Sunny Point's deputy commander, said last year.

At Sunny Point, a large buffer contributes to safety. On the Cape Fear River, there are special safety regulations directing all vessels, unless authorized, to enter the Sunny Point area. Even boats in the main Cape Fear Channel have been ordered to continue past Sunny Point as they head toward Wilmington's main port or leave the river.

But a large study by the Cape Fear Council of Governments in 2019 found the rail line to Sunny Point was a problem. This study recommended that the U.S. government obtain full ownership of the rail corridor to Leland to “explore options for sealing the corridor, to the extent possible, to limit trespassing and other unauthorized entry.”

Also of concern in the report is access to the road leading to Sunny Point's north entrance on Plantation Road. This route poses safety concerns given the remoteness of the area and the lack of other activities along the route, officials said.

Coastal population growth is worrying

The 2019 report, focusing on “joint land use,” reveals that population growth is a concern. Brunswick County is the fastest growing county in the state.

When the U.S. Army first sought a military terminal in 1950, the population of Brunswick County was just over 19,000, and Southport, just downstream from Sunny Point, had only 1,700 residents. .

The county now has more than 150,000 residents and a considerable number of seasonal vacationers in various beach towns and communities.

Boiling Spring Lakes and Leland grew along both ends of the Sunny Point rail corridor, with populations estimated between 6,400 and nearly 29,000.

Concerns about Sunny Point include traffic and how people might evacuate in the event of an explosion or major safety issue. Other concerns include large populations along rail corridors – where all the explosives are transported and where one incident could create a deadly and devastating explosion.

In addition, level crossings now have to deal with much more road traffic than in the past, making a collision between a vehicle and a train more likely. One of the plan's recommendations is to spend money to create an overpass.