During last week’s Annual Convention in Austin, AAPA and Lamar University’s Center for Port Management renewed their Memorandum of Understanding to reinforce their mutual interest in advanced and continuing education for current and prospective port industry leaders. Led by Erik Stromberg, former AAPA and North Carolina Ports CEO, Lamar’s Center for Port Management offers a unique, 12-course, fully online Master of Science degree in port and marine terminal management. Courses are taught in equal measure by industry experts serving as adjunct faculty and Lamar faculty in the school’s Business College and Industrial and Systems Engineering Department. The Center’s Introduction to Port and Terminal Management course, taught by Stromberg, also serves as the centerpiece of AAPA’s Industry Recognized Port Certificate (IRPC). For further information on the Center, visit http://www.lamar.edu/portmanagement.

Princess Cruises marked a return to cruise vacations on September 25 with its first ship, Grand Princess, to set sail from the Port of Los Angeles since the cruise industry’s pause in operations early last year. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to officially welcome guests on board Grand Princess.

Total Terminals International container terminal on Pier T in the Port of Long Beach is making it easier for trucks to access the facility during the overnight hours in a new pilot program to widen access and speed deliveries amid the ongoing cargo surge. The pilot program at the port’s largest terminal focuses on the effort to reduce “dwell” – the amount of time cargo spends waiting for pickup on the dock.

The last 21 years serving ports of the Western Hemisphere has been one of Mary Beth Long’s greatest life adventures. She has always said that ports have an amazing story to tell, and it has been a great honor to be trusted to tell that story over the years. Though it is bittersweet to say goodbye, Mary Beth is also looking forward to charting a new course as the next vice president of communications for the American Sportfishing Association. While not directly connected to ports, ASA and its membership, like seaports, depend on our nation’s waterways.

Mary Beth began her port career attending the AAPA Annual Convention hosted by the Port of New York and New Jersey. Her first day with AAPA was a Sunday, the day before the convention started. She remembers that day well and thinking how lucky she was to be spending week one on the job in the fabulous city of New York, attending a five-star event with seaport leaders from around the hemisphere. That was just the beginning. From hands-on experiences such as climbing up a Jacob’s ladder to board a vessel, to meeting with some of the most influential legislators in Washington, D.C., she never stopped learning or appreciating the value of this great industry.

During the 110th Annual Convention, AAPA took steps to modernize the Association’s governance policies, streamline the U.S. member dues structure and seat its latest slate of the Board of Directors. The following corporate members were officially installed to serve a two-year term on the AAPA Board of Directors:

• U.S. North Pacific Ports Region: Julianna Marler, CEO, Port of Vancouver USA
• U.S. Great Lakes Ports Region: Vanta Coda, CEO, Ports of Indiana
• U.S. North Atlantic Ports Region: Richard Hendrick, CEO, Albany Port District Commission
• Max Dues Payers Delegation: Sean Strawbridge, CEO, Port Corpus Christi
• Vacant at-large seat to be filled Tuesday, October 19, by the new board: Corporate members in good standing may nominate a port CEO or their equivalent, or self nominate, by emailing Cary Davis (cdavis@aapa-ports.org) by COB Thursday, October 14.

In addition to installing new directors, board directors serving their second year of a two-year term include:

• AAPA 2020-2022 Chairman of the Board: Mario Cordero, Executive Director, Port of Long Beach
• U.S. South Atlantic Ports Region: Jonathan Daniels, Executive Director/CEO, Port Everglades
• U.S. Gulf Ports Region: Chett Chiasson, Executive Director, Greater Lafourche Port Commission
• U.S. South Pacific Ports Region: Eugene Seroka, Executive Director, Port of Los Angeles
• Canada Ports Region: Sean Hanrahan, President and CEO, St. John’s Port Authority
• At-Large: Paul Anderson, President and CEO, Port Tampa Bay

AAPA wants to recognize its port members for their achievements over the past couple of years, but needs your input to include your port in this Q4 Seaports Magazine feature. If you've completed an outstanding project recently or came up with an innovative way to solve a challenge or broke records or have a neat story to share, you belong in this "best of the best" roundup and we'd love to hear from you. Please reach out to shani@naylor.com (no later than Oct. 15!) with these details so your port's accomplishments can be included in this feature:

Your name, title:
Port name and logo:
What was an accomplishment achieved by your port in 2020-2021?
Photo to illustrate achievement or photo of port?
 

This is a similar article we ran in 2016. Don't miss out on this opportunity to be part of the 2021 article. Connect with us by Oct. 15 so we can include you! 

A newly created committee will explore economic development opportunities at the Port of Brownsville. Brownsville Navigation District chairman Sergio Tito Lopez has named secretary Esteban Guerra as chairman of the new committee and commissioner John Reed will serve as vice chair. Last month, U.S. Senator John Cornyn visited the port to participate in an economic development roundtable discussion with Rio Grande Valley public officials and members of the business community.

Liebherr Container Cranes, an AAPA ISP member, was awarded the contract for the supply of three ship to shore (STS) container cranes for Maher Terminals LLC at the Port of New York and New Jersey. The cranes will take their place alongside the existing eight Liebherr STS cranes at Maher’s terminal.

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) announced plans to issue via public offering approximately $425 million in revenue bonds to fund infrastructure projects at the Port of Savannah. The bonds are tentatively set to be offered for sale the week of October 18, and the preliminary official statement and investor presentation with respect to the bonds will be posted on or about October 8. The bonds will fund capital improvements to expand GPA’s capacity to serve the largest vessels calling on the U.S. East Coast, and to better handle the growth GPA expects in its long-term forecast.

The Port of Portland welcomes new container service to Terminal 6 to help address critical supply chain issues and provide regional businesses and consumers with more options to move products. The new business at Terminal 6 includes South Korea-based SM Line that will add two additional vessels per month, an additional weekly container service operated by MSC, the second-largest carrier in the world, and new private charter vessels and domestic 53-foot containers.

Port of Hueneme CEO and Port Directo Kristin Decas made opening remarks at the Advanced Naval Technology Exercise (ANTX) and Coastal Trident 2021 Technology Open House – and is pictured here with Bryan Went, co-founder and co-CEO of Matter Labs, director, FATHOMWERX. The event provided opportunities for technical and operational stakeholders to discuss gaps in capabilities and work together on new technological solutions for global supply chain issues.

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Autonomy Institute Inc. to develop and deploy intelligent and autonomous projects along the port’s Joe Fulton International Trade Corridor. The new partnership is a continuation of Port Corpus Christi’s established Technology Advancement Program, which is designed to foster innovation to enhance safety and efficiency across multiple modes of freight mobility.