Baton Rouge Port News

U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administrator Paul “Chip” Jaenichen visited the Port of Greater Baton Rouge’s container-on-barge operation Tuesday while delivering his personal congratulations on the recent awarding of a $1.75 million grant to the Baton Rouge port and the Port of New Orleans. The grant will be used to acquire specialized container loading equipment to increase efficiencies to the current container-on-barge shuttle service operated by SEACOR AMH between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The board of commissioners for the Port of Greater Baton Rouge recently elected officers for 2009. Officers elected include Alvin Dragg, Ascension, president; Raymond Loup, West Baton Rouge, vice president; Jerald Juneau, East Baton Rouge, treasurer; and Larry Johnson, West Baton Rouge, secretary. Dragg, who was elected president, represents Ascension Parish on the board of commissioners and has served two terms as president previously over the past two decades. He is a life-long resident of Gonzales and is a former Entergy Corporation executive.

The Port of Greater Baton Rouge announced a new weekly short-sea shipping service for containers via barge to the Port of New Orleans. This regular service is scheduled weekly to facilitate demand from local industry. Osprey Line operates the container terminal at the Baton Rouge port’s Inland Rivers Marine Terminal and launched the first weekly shipment Friday, January 9, 2004 to the Napoleon Street Wharf Container Terminal in New Orleans. Osprey Line President Rick Couch said, “With this weekly container-on-barge shipping schedule, local companies who import and export products to and from the Port of New Orleans can take advantage of lower transportation costs. Most products can be moved by container-on-barge.

Maritime Administrator Capt. William G. Schubert today named Doris J. Bautch as Director of the Maritime Administration's Great Lakes Region. In her new position, Bautch will report directly to the Maritime Administrator in support of all agency programs, including supporting and conducting supplementary training for personnel in the maritime industries and participating in regional port and intermodal transportation development activities. Bautch will be the first woman to head any of the U.S. Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) five regional offices. “I look forward to continuing to work closely with Doris in her new assignment,” Schubert said.