John S Edwards News

The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) will receive $73.77 million from the federal government to assist in building the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) project, which will provide a gateway for cargo movement on U.S. inland waterways including the Mississippi River.The U.S. Department of Transportation has alerted Congress that it intends to award this funding through its MEGA Grant Program, which will support the first phase of the overall $1.8 billion project’s construction and is in addition to significant funding commitments from private industry partners and Port NOLA.

An offshore wind hub is coming to the site of the former Avondale Shipyard in Louisiana as the region ramps up to service the growing renewable energy industry in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.New Orleans-based Gulf Wind Technology (GWT) announced Monday it is collaborating with energy supermajor Shell to establish a research, training and technology demonstration program at GWT’s facility within the Avondale Global Gateway in Jefferson Parish.The news comes after the Biden administration…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving too slowly to allow states to permit and oversee carbon-reduction projects, according to Louisiana's governor, slowing millions of dollars in investments designed to tackle greenhouse gas reduction.Louisiana and other top oil-producing states say they can speed up permitting of carbon sequestration projects if allowed to handle decisions that currently fall under the EPA. There are dozens of these projects with multi-million…

A public-private partnership between the state of Louisiana, the Port of New Orleans and two global maritime industry leaders will build a $1.8 billion container facility on the Lower Mississippi River, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced.The new Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) in St. Bernard Parish will be able to serve vessels of all sizes, increasing Louisiana’s import and export capacity and stimulating the creation of more than 17,000 new jobs statewide by 2050, Port NOLA estimates.New Jersey-based Ports America…

Tthe Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced this week that it received an apparent low bid from Houma, La. based Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors for the construction of two new ferry boats for the Cameron crossing in Cameron Parish. The bid was $49,706,865.Designed by Elliott Bay Design Group, the new boats will be 190’ x 50’ x 13’ and will replace the M/V Cameron II, which was built in 1964. The boats will be end-loading vessels in order to load and unload large commercial vehicles.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) earlier this month awarded a $50 million federal grant to H2theFuture, a 25-organization partnership aiming to develop a new energy cluster in South Louisiana, spanning the clean hydrogen life cycle, from R&D at Louisiana universities, to an end-use project at the Port of South Louisiana.The award is one of 21 projects from around the country chosen from 529 applicants that were funded by a $1 billion appropriation from the American Rescue Plan Act…

Rhe Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) on Thursday elected Jack C. Jensen, Jr. to serve as Board Chairman, succeeding Charles H. Ponstein, whose term as Chairman ended this month. Also elected were Joseph F. Toomy, who will serve as Vice Chairman, and Walter J. Leger, Jr., who will serve as Secretary-Treasurer for the nine-month term.“Jack Jensen has brought decades of transportation and logistics experience to this board, and we look forward to his…

RWE Renewables, a German offshore wind giant is looking to build an offshore wind supply chain in Louisiana, one of the top U.S. oil and gas producing states. RWE said last week it would collaborate with Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.) and GNOwind Alliance to build a program that will accelerate the engagement of Louisiana's supply chain with offshore wind and benefit all Louisianians. Greater New Orleans, Inc. is the regional economic development nonprofit organization serving the 10-parish region of Southeast Louisiana.Over the next six months, GNO, Inc.

Plaquemines Port, Harbor and Terminal District (PPHTD) and APM Terminals have announced a Letter of Intent whereby APM Terminals will become the operator of the newly planned Container Terminal and Intermodal Rail Facility and external parties will be the investor in the new port. Plaquemines Port and their financial partners will manage the financial activities associated with the infrastructure development, investment, and ownership of the port.Governor of Louisiana John Bel Edwards applauded the announcement of the agreement.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday as an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm, forcing those who did not flee to brace themselves for the toughest test yet of the billions of dollars spent on levee upgrades following Hurricane Katrina 16 years ago.Ida came ashore near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 11:55 a.m. CDT (16:55 GMT), the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. Hurricane-strength winds extended 50 miles (80 km) out from Ida's eye, forcing New Orleans to suspend…

A federal judge in Louisiana on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration's pause on oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters, dealing a setback to a key White House effort to address climate change.The order granted a preliminary injunction to Louisiana and 12 other states that sued Democratic President Joe Biden and the Interior Department over the freeze on new drilling auctions. Louisiana is a major hub for offshore oil and gas production.Biden paused the government's leasing auctions in January pending a review that is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

The Biden administration on Tuesday said it will explore the potential of offshore wind energy development in the Gulf of Mexico, part of its goal to supercharge growth in clean energy over the next decade."This is an important first step to see what role the Gulf may play in this exciting frontier,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.While the Gulf of Mexico is a major hub for offshore oil and gas production, it has had little renewable energy development. President Joe Biden has made the expansion of clean energy…

Energy companies on Monday began evacuating offshore oil platforms as the 25th named storm of the year formed in the Caribbean and was forecast to become a major hurricane before it entered the Gulf of Mexico and threatens the U.S. mainland.Tropical Storm Delta was expected to rapidly strengthen and become a Category 3 hurricane with up to 120 mile per hour (194 kilometers per hour) winds. It was about 160 miles south southwest of Negril, Jamaica, on Monday evening and moving west at 8 mph.Delta will bring rain…

The ports at Baton Rouge, New Orleans, South Louisiana, St. Bernard and Plaquemines are slated to have deep draft access after Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and other state officials signed a formal agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Friday to begin construction on the deepening of the Lower Mississippi River to 50 feet from 45 feet. The overall project will provide a draft of 50-feet from the Port of Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico over 256 miles of the Mississippi River.

On March 3, 2020 a keel laying ceremony was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Houma, LA for the 3rd Regional Class Research Vessel, R/V GILBERT R. MASON. The R/V MASON will be operated by the Gulf - Caribbean Oceanographic Consortium led by the University of Southern Mississippi and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON). Many of Dr. Gilbert Mason’s family members, as well as a number of dignitaries from both Mississippi and Louisiana, attended the event. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards attended and was one of the speakers. Dr.

The former chairman of the Port of New Orleans Board of Commissioners Joe Toomy is rejoining the group.Gov. John Bel Edwards reappointed Joseph F. Toomy to the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans.Toomy was sworn in during today’s monthly board meeting and will serve a five-year term succeeding Laney J. Chouest as one of two Jefferson Parish representatives on the seven-member regional board. He previously served on the Board of Commissioners from 2009 to 2014 and served as chairman in 2013.With the Port’s acquisition of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad effective Feb. 1, 2018, Port Commissioners also serve as directors of the New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB) board…

New Orleans braced for severe flooding with residents told to hunker down as a growing tropical storm in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico headed for landfall late on Friday or early on Saturday as the first Atlantic hurricane of 2019.U.S. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency for the state of Louisiana late on Thursday, hours after the region's oil production was cut by half as energy companies evacuated offshore drilling facilities and a coastal refinery.Tropical Storm…

Some residents and visitors prepared to flee New Orleans on Thursday as Tropical Storm Barry closed in and city officials warned of severe flooding if it makes landfall by early Saturday as the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2019 season.The storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (64 kph) as of 10 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday, the National Weather Service said.Forecasters issued a storm-surge warning for a stretch of Louisiana coastline south of already-sodden New Orleans stretching from the mouth of the Atchafalaya River to Shell Beach.

Waves began to batter parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast on Tuesday as the region felt the first hit of Tropical Storm Gordon, which is expected to become a hurricane before it comes ashore with high winds and heavy rain, forecasters said.The storm also caused a jump in global oil prices after the evacuation of two oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.Gordon was due to come ashore late on Tuesday near the border between Louisiana and Mississippi, and drop as much as 12 inches (30 cm) of rain in areas still recovering from last year's hurricanes…

The Mississippi River Ship Channel could be the first port complex on the Gulf Coast to reach a depth of 50 feet now that the Director’s Report has been signed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Elected officials and industry leaders have long worked to increase the channel’s depth to 50 feet, which is the same depth of the expanded Panama Canal.In signing the Report, Corps of Engineers Director of Civil Works James C. Dalton stated the project is “economically justified and…

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and General Product Support Manager Troy Matherne of Louisiana Machinery Company announced the company will add 60 jobs and expand its New Iberia operations. Known as Louisiana Cat, the company rebuilds and services engines and related equipment for marine, oil and gas, industrial and utility companies at the Port of Iberia. Louisiana Cat’s expansion calls for the addition of 60 new direct jobs over the next five years, with the jobs carrying an average annual salary of $60,000, plus benefits. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project also will result in 28 new indirect jobs, for a total of 88 new jobs in Iberia Parish, Acadiana and the surrounding regions. A total of 130 existing jobs at the Iberia Parish company will be retained.

France-based CMA CGM today announced a new direct weekly container service to Asia from the Port of New Orleans Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. Part of the company’s PEX3 service, the inaugural vessel is scheduled to arrive on January 31 for service by terminal operator Ports America. “CMA CGM is proud to be expanding our presence in New Orleans, further showing our commitment to the Gulf region, and Louisiana specifically. We look forward to continued growth in the region, and are pleased to be contributing to the evolution and development of this vital hub. In the U.S., the Group now offers a global coverage with 23 services in and out of North America to over 150 countries around the world,” said Marc Bourdon, CMA CGM America LLC President.

Port of New Orleans Chief Operating Officer Brandy Christian joined Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in signing a memorandum of understanding with Cuba on Oct. 4 pledging to expand trade and commerce opportunities between Louisiana and the Caribbean nation. The agreement also calls for joint marketing and information sharing efforts to meet those objectives. “The proximity and historical relationship between Cuba and the Port of New Orleans has us well-positioned should the trade embargo be lifted, and we are prepared to play an important role in trade when the time comes,” said Christian, who signed the MOU with Gov. Edwards and Director General Manuel Fernandez Perez Guerra of the National Port Administration of Cuba.