Port of New Orleans unveils new master plan
The Port of New Orleans' Board of Commissioners has unveiled a plan to boost cargo volumes by expanding container, breakbulk and cruise traffic.
“With the coming expansion of the Panama Canal and booming global trade from emerging economies, the port is well positioned to capture new cargoes, create thousands of jobs, and provide new economic opportunities for the region, state and nation,” said Gary LaGrange, port president and chief executive officer.
A 2020 Master Plan developed with New Orleans-based port planning group Jemison & Partners calls for a variety of projects including construction of the second phase of the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, which would increase the terminal’s capacity by two ship berths and almost 200,000 TEUs. Additional container cranes would be added, along with relocating Napoleon Avenue Intermodal Yard. The nearly $250 million investment would enable the port to attract additional container carriers and expand the business of existing operators.
A third phase of Napoleon Avenue would increase container capacity at the terminal to more than 1.3 million TEUs and require another $240 million investment.
“Container congestion at West Coast ports and the completion of the widening of the Panama Canal in 2014 will provide the Port of New Orleans grand opportunities for attracting additional Asian cargo in the next decade,” LaGrange said. “We must be ready to accommodate shifting trade routes and expand economic opportunities for our customers, tenants and the hundreds of thousands of hard working people throughout the nation that depend on the cargo handled here.”
The port also wants to build a new dockside cold-storage facility at a cost of $30.5 million to replace a facility along the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, which is slated for closure.
The port is also proposing a new $75 million facility to expand breakbulk cargo capacity outside of the traditional footprint of the port, potentially on the west bank of the Mississippi River. The new facility would include two deep-draft ship berths, warehouse space, paved marshalling yards and other infrastructure improvements.
Short-term projects for the cruise industry include development of the Poland Avenue Cruise Terminal. The $6.5 million project would retrofit the existing upriver end of the wharf’s shed, and all work would take place within the existing confines of the facility.
In addition, $16 million is needed to provide both the Poland and Julia Street cruise terminals with enclosed gangways for cruise ships.