T.Y. Lin International (TYLI) is a multi-disciplined planning and engineering design firm that has provided innovative, cost-effective and constructible engineering designs for infrastructure projects throughout the world for more than 50 years. With more than 2,500 employees working in 54 offices throughout the United States, Asia and Latin America, the firm offers leadership and support on projects of varying size and complexity for airports, rail, highways, bridges and port and marine facilities.

The topics covered during the business program at the recent AAPA Annual Convention were driven by the AAPA strategic plan and issues identified by port directors as critical to meet the needs of AAPA’s diverse membership.  

Rafael S. Quesada, director, trade development, for the Port of Pascagoula, has completed all requirements of AAPA's Professional Port Manager (PPM®) program. His PPM® report on the role of the United States government in the promotion of trade was based on a residency he completed at AAPA headquarters.

The Port of Bellingham has entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with Bio-Fibre Manufactures Inc. and DKoram Inc. to study the feasibility of exporting logs and bio-fuel materials from an approximately 20-acre site adjacent to the Bellingham Shipping Terminal. AutoPort, Inc., will begin processing and modifying vehicles for U.S. based automotive manufacturers at Port Canaveral in January 2016. The Delaware-based company is leasing 16 acres at the port’s newly completed auto terminal.

The Port of Houston Authority commissioned the first of four new Super Post-Panamax ship-to-shore (STS) cranes at its Barbours Cut Container Terminal on November 6.  The cranes can move containers twice as fast as their predecessors and will boost the terminal’s throughput capacity from 1.25 million to 2.5 million TEUs annually.

For the seventh consecutive year, the public marine terminals at the Port of Baltimore have received a security assessment rating of ‘excellent’ from the U.S. Coast Guard. The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has officially accepted three federal port security grants totaling $1.8 million that will be used to support port police security and operation integration initiatives, as well as cyber security infrastructure.

The Port of Long Beach reports container volume last month rose 6.3 percent to 619,983 TEUs, giving the port its best October in eight years. New Orleans container, breakbulk cargo, cruise and real estate businesses are booming, Port President and CEO Gary LaGrange, PPM®, reported in his annual state of the port address. Port Everglades’ container throughput topped one million TEUs for the second year in a row during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015. With two months left in the international shipping season, U.S. Great Lakes/Seaway system ports were busy moving grain and project cargo in October. Container movements through the Port of Virginia’s Hampton Roads marine terminals reached a monthly high in October of 233,466 TEUs, beating the previous record, 230,511 TEUs, set in May.

Talks have begun to develop the next phase of a 170-acre Seaport Logistics Complex at the Port of Oakland. Port Commissioners on November 12 gave the go-ahead, authorizing exclusive negotiations between the port and industrial real estate developer CenterPoint Properties.

The Port of Boston welcomed 114 ship calls and 328,305 passengers during the cruise season that ended November 8 with the sailing of Celebrity Eclipse from Massport’s Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. Royal Caribbean International’s the160,000-ton, 3,634-passenger capacity  Liberty of the Seas has repositioned to Port of Galveston, offering year-round western Caribbean sailings as the largest cruise ship to sail from a Texas port. Cruise Lines International Association’s newly released economic impact study shows that total contributions of the global cruise industry to the U.S. economy reached a record $46.09 billion in 2014, up 4.5 percent from the previous year. This includes generating 373,738 U.S. jobs paying more than $19 billion in wages and salaries.

AAPA corporate members are invited to nominate individuals for consideration as AAPA's 2016 Port Person(s) of the Year. The deadline for nominations is Friday, January 8, 2016.