The Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) reported on Monday that contractors have completed the final phase on $ 104 million of improvements to the berth at the Jacksonville SSA Container Terminal on Blount Island.
This provides an additional 700 linear feet of newly rebuilt deepwater mooring space at the Jacksonville, Florida facility. The reconstruction of the container terminal is a public-private partnership between JAXPORT and SSA Atlantic.
The completion of the final phase of the project, another 700 linear feet, will coincide with the end of the deepening of the port in 2022, said JAXPORT.
Upon completion of the berth improvements, the facility will feature two newly rebuilt 1,200-foot container berths, capable of accommodating two post-Panamax vessels simultaneously. The cradles are electrified to handle a total of 10 state-of-the-art, 100-gauge, environmentally friendly, electric-powered container cranes, including three currently in use.
More than $ 72 million in phased yard improvements are underway to allow the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal to accommodate up to 700,000 units equivalent to twenty feet (TEUs) annually.
The federal project to deepen the Jacksonville shipping channel to a depth of 47 feet from its current 40 feet is fully funded by Blount Island, with completion scheduled for 2022 three years ahead of the original schedule. A new vessel turning basin that will allow larger vessels to turn the berths on Blount Island is in the process of being completed by the end of this year.
South Carolina Port Authority
The South Carolina Port Authority said it had significantly updated its forecast for fiscal year 2021, after several months of high volumes and a continuous recovery.
The updated plan projects that South Carolina ports will move 1.38 million containers on the pier in fiscal 2021, ending on June 30. This is above the original projection of 1.23 million containers on the pier and, if achieved, would exceed the fiscal year 2019 volume record of 1.36 handled in millions of dock containers.
The revised forecast also projects the port handling 243,595 vehicles and a combined total of 176,073 rail movements in inland ports in fiscal year 2021.
“Several months of much higher volumes than expected at SC Ports, including a record in November and December, boosted this updated forecast,” said the announcement. “SC Ports has seen a month-on-month strength in several business segments since September, including containers, vehicles and inland ports.”
The port authority council also approved two personnel promotions for managerial positions, starting next Monday.
Paul McClintock will serve as senior vice president for export projects. McClintock, who joined SC Ports in 2009, is a senior vice president of marketing and sales.
Micah Mallace will move to the position McClintock is vacating. Mallace joined SC Ports in 2011 and, most recently, served as director of national accounts.
Seattle Harbor
The Seattle Port Commission elected Fred Felleman as chairman of the commission for 2021.
Commissioner Ryan Calkins will serve as vice president and Commissioner Sam Cho will serve as secretary for a second term.
“This was an exceptionally challenging year, punctuated by an economic and health crisis, as well as the ongoing social justice crisis, which highlighted how our economic fabric is strained for many communities. The key to addressing these inequalities will be the creation of paid jobs through innovation and the development of the workforce, said Felleman.
“Opportunities will grow at the airport and at the seaport as the international landing facilities, the northern satellite and Terminal 5 go online and others go online in 2021,” he continued. We will also maintain our commitment to reduce our carbon footprint by developing sustainable aviation fuels and electrifying the coastline. Now, more than ever, we are ready to rebuild better, promoting innovations that create the green jobs of the future. “
In 2021, the Northwest Seaport Alliance, the joint venture of the ports of Seattle and Tacoma that operates international cargo facilities in both ports, will open the first phase of its modernized Terminal 5 in West Seattle.
Felleman recently announced that the Port of Seattle won the Environmental Management Award from the Washington Public Ports Association for an initiative to reduce noise from shipping called Quiet Sound. The program was also designed to help protect endangered orcas.
“Ultimately, the success of the Quiet Sound program requires obtaining timely and reliable sighting information for Puget Sound pilots, ferry captains and tugs, the Coast Guard and the Marine Exchange, if we are to fully operationalize the recommendations of the program, ”said Felleman. “I am also committed to helping integrate a Silence-like program into the Coast Guard’s robust vessel traffic system (VTS). We are fortunate to have the only international VTS in the country and the Canadian Coast Guard has just established a ‘whale tour’ in its operations center. “
Long Beach Harbor
The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco appointed the Executive Director of the Port of Long Beach, Mario Cordero, to the board of directors of the Los Angeles branch.
Cordero has led the Port of Long Beach since 2017.
“I look forward to serving in this capacity, especially as we all work to help the economy recover,” said Cordero in a statement.
Prior to becoming the port’s executive director, Cordero served on the Federal Maritime Commission from 2011 to 2017 and was president of the FMC from April 2013 to January 2017. Cordero, a lawyer, served as the port steward for Long Beach from 2003 to 2011.
The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 requires each of the country’s 12 reserve banks to operate under the supervision of a board of directors. In the case of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, its four branches in LA, Portland, Oregon, Salt Lake City and Seattle each have a separate seven-member branch board.
Port of Duluth-Superior
Like other American ports on the Great Lakes, the Port of Duluth-Superior witnessed an increase in wind cargo arrivals in the recently completed shipping season, as well as an increase in agricultural exports. Grain gains were modest in Duluth-Superior – tracking 1% to 2% ahead of the 2019 pace and the five-season average – but the increase in wind load was more pronounced, the port said.
“It was a record season for wind power loads in Duluth,” said Deb DeLuca, executive director of Port Authority Duluth Seaway. “In fact, it was our second consecutive record season for this specific type of cargo.”
The Port of Duluth-Superior, located in Duluth, Minnesota, said it received 30 ocean-going wind-loaded ships in 2020 from eight countries: Brazil, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and Turkey. These shipments included the longest blades (242 feet) and towers (100 feet) ever handled in Duluth. In total, the port received 525,000 tonnes of wind cargo in 2020, easily exceeding the 2019 mark of 306,000 tonnes of cargo. Collectively, the components will assemble 154 wind turbines in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.
“The fact that we were able to handle that record volume of wind load this year did not happen by accident,” said DeLuca. “It’s proof of years of hard work.”
“As the most remote seaport in North America, it is very good that Duluth is the center of the Midwest for wind cargo arrivals,” she said. “The fact that the cargo can sail inland – about 2,038 nautical miles from the Atlantic Ocean to Duluth – is very advantageous for shippers.”
Corpus Christi Port
The port of Corpus Christi, Texas, said it closed 2020 with a record tonnage, mainly attributable to a 65% increase in crude oil shipments in 2019. The port set a new annual tonnage record of 159.7 million tonnes , an increase of 31% in relation to 2019, also as a new monthly record of 15.9 million tons in December, 15% higher than December 2019.
This performance helped push fourth quarter results to a quarterly record of 42.2 million tonnes, beating the previous record for the first quarter of 2020, said the port.
The port also saw a 26% increase in liquefied natural gas shipments to 8.7 million tons, and agricultural exports increased by 70% in 2020, to almost 4.3 million tons. The port said it “further solidified its position as the country’s main energy export portal, with a record 1.9 million barrels per day of crude oil exports in December 2020”.
Once an improvement project is completed in late 2023, the Corpus Christi ship channel will be the deepest and widest in the United States’ Gulf. The project received an additional $ 100 million in federal grants in December as part of the approval of the Water Resources Development Act.
The Port of Corpus Christi also recently reported that it was the first port authority in the world to complete the third consecutive year operating on 100% renewable energy.
The port of Texas began to chart its management course in 2016 with the adoption of an environmental policy that was committed to 100% renewable energy by 2018, a goal that it achieved ahead of schedule. In 2020, the port claimed nearly 10 million kilowatt hours of green energy credits, making it the first port in the region to do so.
“When the port authority, with the full support of the port commission, made a commitment to 100% renewable energy as a decarbonisation strategy, it demonstrated our belief that economic prosperity can be achieved in a safe and responsible manner. We welcome other seaports that recently followed our example, ”said Sean Strawbridge, the port’s CEO, in the announcement.
The port said it has recycled more than 1 million pounds of materials since 2005, is proactive in air monitoring and recently used federal funds to purchase a solar powered floating skimmer to prevent waste from entering Corpus Christi Bay for periods of heavy rains.
Southern Louisiana Port
Linda Prudhomme, business development director for the Port of Southern Louisiana, retired after more than 19 years of service. Julia Fisher-Perrier was promoted to the position.
“Linda’s extensive knowledge of Louisiana’s existing industry, experience in targeted marketing and collaborative efforts with the local economic development community helped the Port of Southern Louisiana to produce significant results,” said the port. “She has been responsible for implementing the strategic plan for the Port of Southern Louisiana, which has facilitated the attraction of new industries or the expansion of existing ones through synergies of strength in the port’s industrial base.
“In working with economic development allies within the port district, she was responsible for facilitating new foreign investments, such as Formosa, South Louisiana Methanol and Yuhuang Chemicals, totaling $ 23.2 billion in capital investments and approximately 3,750 direct jobs for the district tri-parish, ”said the port.
Source: Freight waves