AAPA corporate (port) members are invited to nominate individuals for consideration as AAPA's 2023 Port Person of the Year, which recognizes individuals whose outstanding work has made a significant contribution to public ports and/or maritime commerce. The formal criteria for eligibility and judging are available on AAPA’s website. The deadline for nominations is February 2, 2023. The award will be presented at the 2023 Legislative Summit: Strong Ports, Strong America on March 28-29, in Washington, D.C. 

 

AAPA corporate members may nominate an individual for this award. Active members of the association are not eligible. Please provide at least one paragraph on each of the three judging criteria listed. Nominations should be submitted by email to Shannon McLeod no later than Thursday, February 2. Selection of those receiving the honor for 2023 will be made by the AAPA Board of Directors at its February meeting. AAPA’s Port Person of the Year is presented by DCLI.

AAPA is pleased to welcome Deb DeLuca, Executive Director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, to the AAPA Board of Directors as its newest member. DeLuca was recently appointed to fill the remaining term for a recent vacancy. This position provides representation for Great Lakes members on the Board of Directors. DeLuca brings unparalleled leadership and diversity to the decision-making table. She is the first woman to lead the Port Authority in its more than 60-year history.

 

DeLuca has been involved in maritime, freight, and Great Lakes policy initiatives at the local, state, and federal level in various roles including president of the Minnesota Ports Association, treasurer of the American Great Lakes Ports Association, chair of the Minnesota Freight Advisory Committee, and executive committee member of APEX. She serves on the boards of the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota, Green Marine and the Chamber of Marine Commerce and as an alternate Minnesota commissioner to the Great Lakes Commission. She also serves on the advisory committees for Minnesota Sea Grant, Wisconsin Sea Grant, and the University of Wisconsin-Superior Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chain Management Program.

 

DeLuca has been appointed to fill the remaining term of Vanta Coda, former CEO of the Ports of Indiana. AAPA thanks Vanta for his years of leadership service dedicated to advancing the association and the port industry.

The POWERS Summit & Expo will kick off January 24, with Dr. Timothy “Tip” Meckel’s opening keynote. Dr. Meckel, senior research scientist for the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin, will participate in a fireside chat moderated by Kym Bolado, publisher and president for SHALE Oil & Gas Magazine. The session will focus on big-picture lessons learned from environmental surveys and studies for ports, as well as Meckel's own research investigating geologic carbon sequestration.

Meckel is a research scientist investigating geologic carbon sequestration topics. He joined the Gulf Coast Carbon Center at the Bureau in 2006, focusing on geologic characterization, structural geology, monitoring design, and pressure evolution for CO2 injections. Meckel has been involved with several large-scale field demonstration projects funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). After early exposure during the FRIO tests in 2006, he co-directed the research program for the SECARB demonstration project, and currently leads the research initiative to identify offshore sequestration potential in the Gulf of Mexico, with focus on capacity assessment and seismic monitoring technologies.

The inaugural POWERS Summit & Expo, January 24-26, 2023, in Tampa, Fla., will be attended by C-suite executives, presidents, vice presidents, and directors from ports throughout the United States, Canada, and South America. The agenda features government speakers from the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, MARAD, EPA, and Congress. Explore the complete agenda and register here.

AAPA will hold a virtual meeting of its Legislative Policy Council (LPC) on Tuesday, January 31, at 12:00 p.m. ET/9:00 a.m. PT. This virtual meeting will be held in lieu of the LPC meeting typically scheduled in conjunction with AAPA's Shifting Trade Seminar. A copy of pre-brief materials will be distributed to port members by their regional LPC representatives and will be made available following the meeting. Please note, LPC meetings are open to corporate (port) members only. Join the meeting on January 31, via  Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83788889527?pwd=cHVTbTVqNjdtbE5CU0ZwcUcrRTZiUT09
Meeting ID: 837 8888 9527; Passcode: 226521.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) has completed the 2023 Annual Report of the Port Performance Freight Statistics Program. Established by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST) of 2015, the program requires BTS to report on the nation's top maritime ports as measured by 1) overall cargo tonnage, 2) dry bulk cargo tonnage, or 3) by twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of containerized cargo. In 2016, the Working Group commissioned by BTS Director recommended that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Waterborne Commerce Statistics be used to generate the top 25 ports. The program provides nationally consistent capacity and throughput performance measures for these ports.

In addition to the Annual Report, BTS maintains a set of interactive online Port Profiles of the top 50 U.S. ports featuring a wide range of port measures, such as vessel calls by type, vessel dwell times, top commodities, and updates specific to each port. Also, BTS maintains a monthly container port activity dashboard and publishes periodic port-related data spotlights.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has selected Jackie Q. Carter to serve as municipal port director. In this position, Carter will direct commercial and recreational operations at Port Milwaukee, oversee a staff of twenty people, and administer Foreign Trade Zone No. 41. Upon confirmation, Carter will be the port’s first person of color and first woman in this role. A lifelong resident of Milwaukee, Carter has worked in the local non-profit and public sector for more than 20 years. She most recently served as the finance and administration officer for the port, where she provided oversight of all port business operations, including its financial, human resource, and administrative functions. She has been integral in helping to shape the department’s strategic planning and grant funding efforts.

The Georgia Ports Authority handled a record 5.9 million TEUs in CY 2022, an increase of 5% over 2021. The Port of Savannah achieved four of its top five months for container volume in CY 2022, with trade volumes peaking in August at an all-time high of 575,500 TEUs. The Port of Oakland’s container volume dropped in December 2022. Year-end total TEUs for 2022 registered at 2.3 million, marking an estimated 4% decrease from the 2021 total.

The Port of Saguenay welcomed its first ocean-going vessel of 2023 as the M/V Major Richard-Winters anchored at the Marcel-Dionne wharf at the Grande-Anse marine terminal on January 2. As tradition dictates, the port marked the arrival of the first ship with a commemorative plaque and a basket of regional products presented to its captain, Mr. Gregory B. Katsirubas.

The Port of Oakland has launched its 2023 Summer College Internship Program. Through a competitive process, prospective applicants apply for paid internships in 18 professional fields – Aviation, Communications, Engineering, Governmental Affairs, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal, Maritime, Planning & Development, and Risk Management – at the port.

The Port of Québec presented a retrospective of its 2022 activities at the traditional event awarding the Gold-Headed Cane, marking the beginning of the new year. Mario Girard, President and CEO of the Port of Québec, gave the past year’s highlights, including advances in sustainable development and community relations.

High inflation and increasing construction costs are throwing cold water on some of the plans port authorities have been considering, causing them to stretch their infrastructure dollars.

Director of Tenant Services & Operations, Long Beach, CA; Port of Long Beach