Ports – Professional Mariner

23 Dec

Buttigieg announces more than $241 million in grants for US ports

Professional Mariner StaffBrownwater, Maritime News, Ports

(WASHINGTON) — U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday announced the award of more than $241 million in discretionary grant funding for 25 projects to improve port facilities in 19 states and one territory through the Maritime Administration’s (MarAd) Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP). These grants demonstrate rapid action on commitments in the Biden-Harris Port Action Plan,…

15 Dec

US Great Lakes ports report cargo spikes in year-end rush

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Ports, Seaways & Waterways

(OTTAWA) — With just two weeks left of the season, U.S. Great Lakes ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway are reporting a rush of activity as manufacturers stockpile raw materials and businesses take advantage of the congestion-free waterway to export overseas. “U.S. Great Lakes ports have roared back this year – recovering from major 2020 declines in traditional cargoes like…

13 Dec

MarAd awards $12.6 million in grants for America’s marine highways 

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Ports, Seaways & Waterways

(WASHINGTON) – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MarAd) has awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. “These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will…

10 Dec

Great Lakes task force highlights progress in 2021, rebound from COVID

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Ports, Seaways & Waterways

(CLEVELAND) — The Great Lakes Maritime Task Force (GLMTF) has released its annual report for 2021. It details progress on the Great Lakes dredging crisis, efficient funding of the new large navigational lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and pending legislation to improve U.S. Coast Guard icebreaking performance measures, along with funding for a new heavy Great Lakes icebreaker. Other…

10 Dec

Port NOLA takes delivery of four new post-Panamax gantry cranes

Professional Mariner StaffBrownwater, Maritime News, Ports

(NEW ORLEANS) — Four new 100-foot-gauge container gantry cranes have arrived at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal at the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA), the culmination of a 15,643-nautical-mile journey from Shanghai, China. The $112 million investment, which included $49 million for the construction and delivery of the cranes, and $63 million to modernize the wharf and extend the…

30 Nov

Port of Virginia avoids major container backlogs

Professional Mariner StaffPorts

Dozens of ships are waiting for berths off Los Angeles. Puget Sound is so overloaded, rarely used anchorages have filled up. And now, the cargo backlogs are spreading to the East Coast ports of Savannah and New York-New Jersey. The Port of Virginia, meanwhile, continues to operate normally despite similar surges in cargo that have bedeviled other ports. Joe Harris,…

30 Nov

No quick fixes seen for shipping bottlenecks, port congestion

Professional Mariner StaffPorts

From the hills of San Pedro, Calif., you can see the problem firsthand: Towering cranes unload containerships at every available berth, and stacks of containers swell in the freight yards. Loaded containerships occupy every available anchorage inside and outside the long seawall. The number of ships waiting to unload in recent weeks at the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and…

26 Nov

Great Lakes Dredge signs $92 million contract for Houston Ship Channel widening

Professional Mariner StaffBrownwater, Maritime News, Ports, Seaways & Waterways

(HOUSTON) — Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. has signed a $92.5 million dredging contract for Houston Ship Channel Widening and Improvement Project 11. This is the first phase of the billion-dollar expansion and deepening program. Dredging is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2022, with estimated completion in the fourth quarter of 2022. Project 11 is an…

18 Nov

SAFETY BULLETIN: Comments sought on Pacific Coast Port Access Route Study

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Ports, Seaways & Waterways

(WASHINGTON) — The Coast Guard is conducting a Pacific Coast Port Access Route Study (PAC-PARS). The PAC-PARS will consider whether existing or additional routing measures are necessary to improve navigation safety due to factors such as planned or potential offshore development, current port capabilities and planned improvements, increased vessel traffic, existing and potential anchorage areas, changing vessel traffic patterns, effects…

18 Nov

Federal Maritime Commission rolls out new supply chain initiatives

Professional Mariner StaffMaritime News, Ports, Seaways & Waterways

(WASHINGTON) — Six supply chain innovation teams are being convened by Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Commissioner Rebecca Dye to identify and implement improvements to the process and timing of return and delivery of containers to marine terminals. This announcement came at a Tuesday meeting of the FMC where briefings were provided on topics related to conditions in the marketplace for…