factory on eight acres at a closed navy base in Charleston, South Carolina.

The plant will make such things as steel boxes for lightweight cargo and flat racks for carrying heavy loads, such as tractors.

The products will be leased or sold to shipping lines or railroads. Some will also be sold to the military, the company said. Sea Containers said it will be the first plant in the US to make these types of products.

The Hamilton, Bermuda-based company signed a 25-year lease for the site today in Washington, which it said is the longest lease ever signed by a private company for a former navy yard. The Pentagon closed the Charleston base several years ago.

Sea Containers has four other container factories, which are located in the United Kingdom and Singapore. The new 194,000-square-foot plant, called Charleston Marine Containers Inc., will employ at least 180 people and could be operating by next spring.

Sea Containers also runs passenger ferries and rails and owns luxury hotels and restaurants.