Mission Resolve is coordinating a unified relief effort to provide hurricane victims with maximum long-term support to rebuild their lives and communities after Hurricane Dorian. One hundred percent of net proceeds raised by Mission Resolve will go directly to provide relief to the children and families affected by Hurricane Dorian.

Are you planning to join other port solution providers in exhibiting at the AAPA Annual Convention, October 13-16, 2019? The Expo hall will showcase a bevy of port industry vendors, subject matter experts, professional development attractions and activities.
 
Or consider the benefit of sponsoring the special exhibit hall reception launching next year’s convention in Québec City! Join Green Marine – the premier, voluntary environmental certification program for the North American maritime industry; Great Lakes Dredge & Dock – the largest dredging company in the U.S., providing dredging services that provide for economic growth, coastal resilience and natural infrastructure; Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., Ltd. (ZPMC), the largest port machinery heavy-duty equipment manufacturer in the world, headquartered in Shanghai; and Odgers Berndston, providing board and divisional board-level executive recruitment solutions that have helped clients worldwide find senior talent to drive their agendas. Contact Ed O’Connell (eoconnell@aapa-ports.org) or Tom Hranac (thranac@aapa-ports.org) for more information.

The Port of San Diego has been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the United States and Canada. This is the fifth consecutive year that the port has received this prestigious distinction for its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. The Government Finance Officers Association has awarded the Port of Tacoma its Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the port’s 2019 budget document. It reflects the commitment of the port and its staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting and is valid for a one-year period.

The International Trade Hub at Port Manatee completed a multicity tour in August to expand its commerce-nurturing reach. The expo-style event visited four Florida cities: Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Bradenton and Tampa. A new administrator of the Panama Canal, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, Ph.D., an economist with more than 30 years' experience in the public and private sector, was sworn in for a seven-year term at the helm of the waterway.

The public/private partnership between the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and SEACOR Marine continues to produce increases in the number of containers handled at the Inland Rivers Marine Terminal at the port’s North Line Road facility. In 2017, SEACOR handled 8,018 containers there, and in 2018 a total of 13,685 containers were handled at the IRMT. According to an independent study, the Port of Brownsville generated $3 billion in annual economic activity that produced $201 million in tax revenues and supported more than 51,000 jobs across Texas. For the fifth consecutive month, the Port of Los Angeles has set a new single-month cargo record. In August, the port moved 861,081 TEUs, the busiest August in the port’s 112-year history and a 4.2% increase over the same period last year. 

Clean-air efforts by the Port of Long Beach have continued dramatic reductions in air pollution, including an 87% cut in diesel emissions, according to the latest comprehensive study. The study also found the port’s aggressive actions to curtail pollution have decreased smog-forming nitrogen oxides by 56% since 2005. September is Green Port Month at the Port of San Diego, and the port will mark this annual tradition with environmental awards, employee educational events and by sponsoring a Coastal Cleanup Day. A highlight of Green Port Month is the annual Green Port Year in Review, which will be presented at the Board of Port Commissioners meeting.

The Port of Long Beach is seeking construction bids on a planned rail project designed to increase operational and roadway efficiencies by shifting more cargo to rail.

The Alabama State Port Authority announced it has received federal authorization to modernize Mobile Harbor to accommodate larger vessels and improve transit efficiencies at Alabama’s only deep-water seaport – Port of Mobile. Construction is expected to begin in late 2020.

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