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Ports Of Indiana News

21 Sep 2023

US' MARAD Announces Grants to Boost Supply Chain Efficiency

File photo: U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (Photo: Harvey A. Duze – Office of Command Communications)

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded nearly $12 million in grants to eight marine highway projects across the nation under the United States Marine Highway Program (USMHP). The funding will improve the movement of goods along our navigable waterways and expand existing waterborne freight services in Alaska, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin, which will strengthen supply chains and ultimately cut costs for consumers.“Our country has always relied on American waterways to get vital goods where they need to go,” said U.S.

19 Sep 2023

Ports of Indiana Names Operations Managers at Ohio River Ports

Ashley Blocker and Michael Graves (Photos: Ports of Indiana)

Ports of Indiana has filled two key leadership roles at its Ohio River ports, naming Ashley Blocker and Michael Graves as Operations Managers in Mount Vernon and Jeffersonville, respectively.Blocker, a southwest Indiana native, was promoted to the new role after serving as Operations Analyst for Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon since 2022. She previously worked in multiple roles with Squaw Creek Southern Railroad and has more than 15 years’ experience in port and rail operations, customer relations and data analysis.

06 Mar 2023

Ports of Indiana Invests to Expand Following 6% Cargo Growth in 2022

(Photo: Ports of Indiana)

Ports of Indiana announced more than $20 million in expansion and maintenance projects have been approved following several years of cargo growth.Ports of Indiana, which includes Jeffersonville, Burns Harbor and Mount Vernon, handled 11.9 million tons of cargo in 2022, resulting in a 6% increase from 2021 and 42% more than 2020. During 2022, the Burns Harbor and Jeffersonville ports both set new records for total annual shipments, and the overall cargo volume was the fourth highest


31 Oct 2022

AAPA Elects Strawbridge as Next Board Chairman

Sean Strawbridge (Photo: Port of Corpus Christi)

Trade group the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) elected a new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sean Strawbridge of the Port of Corpus Christi, last week during its 111th Annual Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla. Outgoing Chairman Mario Cordero of the Port of Long Beach made the formal announcement during his address to members and attendees.AAPA President and CEO Chris Connor remarked on the transition, "Our work at AAPA is bolstered by the leadership and input of our chairperson and board of directors.

08 Jun 2022

Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville Wraps $24 Million in New Infrastructure Work

(Photo: Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville)

The Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville said it has completed $24 million in infrastructure enhancement projects following a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant received in 2015 initiating big changes in Jeffersonville. All projects were completed in 2022.The grant provided partial funding for $24 million in infrastructure enhancements that has added four miles to the port’s existing 11-mile rail network. The projects have enhanced and


09 Mar 2022

High Powered Networking: AAPA Legislative Summit

© mandritoiu / Adobe Stock

If you’re interested in the inside track in the federal infrastructure world, check out the upcoming Legislative Summit being planned by AAPA – the American Association of Port Authorities, scheduled for March 29-31 at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center.A draft agenda is available and it’s a who’s who of heavy hitters, starting with DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose remarks precede a roundtable session titled “Now We Build!” Another session is titled “How Ports Get to the Front of the Line for Infrastructure Funds.” The speaker is Mitch Landrieu


07 Mar 2022

Former Ports of Indiana Commissioner Ferguson Passes

Marvin Ferguson (Photo: Ports of Indiana)

Marvin Ferguson, Commissioner for the Ports of Indiana (POI) from 1993 – 2018, has passed away. First appointed by Governor Evan Bayh in 1993, Ferguson was the longest-serving Commissioner in the Ports’ history, having served under six different Governors (Bayh, O’Bannon, Kernan, Daniels, Pence and Holcomb). “Marvin has a great legacy with the Ports of Indiana,” said Ports of Indiana chief executive officer Vanta E. Coda, II. “I often talk of the foundation that I was handed when taking my current role. Marvin was a huge builder of that foundation.

07 Feb 2022

New Terminal Operator at Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville

(Photo: Ports of Indiana-Jeffersonville)

Indiana Cargo Crossroads is a working partnership of Ports of Indiana and Superior River Terminals Indiana (SRTI). The new general cargo operator began work in Jeffersonville Jan. 1 providing stevedoring and distribution services to customers. It will grow and diversify cargoes, make investments into facility expansions and drive projects that create significant economic benefits for the regional economy.The port’s general cargo terminal consists of a 10-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Ohio River


08 Nov 2021

Inland Waterways: A Crucible of Issues

© Bill Perry / Adobe Stock

As 2022 appears on the not-so-distant horizon, we asked inland waterways executives to reflect on the major issues impacting their industry. Just how those issues evolve – and whether they present as challenges or opportunities – is, of course, unknown. Answers to some future questions will be relatively straightforward, confidently based on industry knowledge and experience. Other outcomes remain hazier, and next steps could be influenced by forces and players completely removed from the business of barges


21 Jun 2021

Weithman Named Director of Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon

Ben Weithman (Photo: Ports of Indiana)

Ports of Indiana (POI) announced that it has hired Bernard (Ben) Weithman as the new Ports of Indiana-Mount Vernon port director.Weithman will lead port operations and business development for the Mount Vernon port. His industry experience includes more than 30 years in business development, startup and long-term sustainable operations. A senior-level executive in the transportation, agriculture and freight sectors, he most recently served as a senior transportation market consultant at IHS Markit.

15 Jun 2020

MARAD Awards $9.5 Mln for Marine Highways Projects

© trongnguyen / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $9.5 million in grants to eight marine highways projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program. The funding supports the enhancement of navigable waterways and expands existing waterborne freight services in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington and American Samoa.“This Federal assistance will provide additional options to reduce congestion on the roads and help the surrounding local communities’ and the regions’ economic recovery


19 May 2020

Port of Indiana-Mt. Vernon Makes ‘Next Generation’ Terminal Upgrades

(Photo: Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon)

A  recently completed a $2 million capital improvement project aims to attract more cargo to one of the nation’s largest inland ports.Situated 153 miles from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon connects the Ohio River Valley region’s agriculture, coal and manufacturing industries to the rest of the world via year-round access to the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes through the inland waterways system.Each year, more than 3,600 barges


13 Mar 2019

Ports of Indiana: Big Successes, with Big Projects in the Wings

Vanta Coda, CEO at Indiana Ports

For Indiana’s state-established, but autonomous Ports of Indiana, 2018 was a record setting year, both for system-wide numbers and among the three individual Ports. These consist of Burns Harbor, on Lake Erie; Jeffersonville, on the Ohio, across from Louisville, KY; and Mount Vernon, also on the Ohio River, about 140 miles downriver from Jeffersonville.Not only were actual numbers robust, but Port officials reported “unprecedented tonnage increases” within the three-port system.

10 Feb 2019

Burns Harbor Extends Key Partnership

The Port of Indiana Burns-Harbor has extended its partnership with its longtime stevedore and marine terminal operating company, Federal Marine Terminals.A press note from the Ports of Indiana, a statewide port authority operating three ports on the Ohio River and Lake Michigan, said that the deal will run through at least 2023."FMT has been a vital collaborator with the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor since 1999," said Port Director Ian Hirt, "and this consolidated operating agreement underscores FMT's commitment to the greater northwest Indiana and Chicago markets."FMT has been handling cargoes in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River and along the East and Gulf coasts since 1960.

04 Feb 2019

Record Year for Indiana Ports

Indiana's three major shipping ports handled a record amount of cargo last year as a big jump in coal shipments helped them see 25 percent growth in 2018."The Ports of Indiana, which includes the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor, the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville and the Port of Indiana-Mount Vernon, handled 14.8 million tons of cargo last year, a 25% increase over 2017 and a 21% increase over its previous record year in 2015," said a press statement.This was the first time the Ports of Indiana set records in each quarter, and the fifth consecutive year that the Ports of Indiana handled more than 10 million tons of cargo.Key drivers in this record-shattering year included coal shipments (up 58% from 2017)


26 Jul 2018

INSIGHTS: William D. Friedman

Port of Cleveland President & CEO and newly elected Board Chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities William Friedman weighs in this month on the Port of Cleveland and its role in the all important Great Lakes trades.When the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) announced the election of Port of Cleveland President and CEO, William D. Friedman, to serve as chairman for the 2018-19 year, beginning this October, it was perhaps a conscious decision to tap someone who has a broad range of experience and skills in myriad ports, large and small. That’s Friedman in a nutshell. AAPA represents 140 of the leading maritime port authorities in this hemisphere. If you’ve seen one port; well, you’ve seen one port.

23 Mar 2018

AAPA Elects William Friedman As 2018-19 Board Chairman

Friedman is Port of Cleveland's President & CEO. At its 2018 Spring Conference on March 20, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)—the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas—elected William D. Friedman, president and chief executive officer for Northeast Ohio’s Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, to serve as the association’s chairman of the board for the 2018-19 activity year that begins in October. Mr. Friedman is slated to be installed as chairman for a one-year term on the final day of AAPA’s 2018 Annual Convention, set for Oct. 7-10, in Valparaiso, Chile. He will assume the AAPA chairmanship from Steve Cernak, chief executive and port director for Broward County, Fla.’s Port Everglades, who began his one-year term on Oct. 4, 2017.

20 Feb 2018

Ports of Indiana: Building on Success

(Photo: Ports of Indiana)

The Ports of Indiana is a statewide port authority, established in 1963, which operates three ports: two on the Ohio River, one on Lake Michigan. Port officials refer to the three as “America’s Premier Inland Port System.” They cite location, location, location, providing access via two critical freight arteries – the Great Lakes and the Inland Waterway System and proximity to the world’s most productive industrial and agricultural regions. The Ports is the only statewide port authority in the Midwest.

22 Feb 2017

Indiana Ports set Quarterly Tonnage Record

The Ports of Indiana handled nearly 3.9 million tons of cargo during the fourth quarter of 2016, the highest quarterly shipment total in the organization's 55-year history. The total surpassed the ports' previous quarterly record set in the second quarter of 2015 by 300,000 tons. The state's three ports' shipped nearly 11.3 million tons in 2016, the second highest volume in history and the third consecutive year the ports exceeded 10 million tons annually. Since 2014, the Ports of Indiana has handled 34 million tons of cargo, the highest three-year total since Indiana's ports opened. Major cargoes included coal, steel, grain, fertilizer and limestone.

27 Mar 2017

Coalition Urges Congress to Address Asian Carp in the Great Lakes

© Dale Stagg / Adobe Stock

A coalition of maritime business and industry organizations sent a letter to key Members of Congress on Friday, March 24 urging funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to further support efforts undertaken by the State of Illinois to slow, stop and reverse the migration of Asian carp, an aquatic invasive species, through cost-effective measures. In the letter, the UnLock Our Jobs (UOJ) coalition members review the record of success that the GLRI has had in working with the State of Illinois to develop a range of strategies to control Asian carp


13 Apr 2017

First Ocean Vessel of 2017 Arrives at Port of Indiana

Photo: Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor

The first ocean vessel of the year arrived at the Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor marking the official opening of the international shipping season. Port officials welcomed the 413-foot general cargo carrier BBC Mont Blanc and presented the captain with the Ports of Indiana Steel Stein. "The arrival of the first ocean ship of the new year is an exciting time not only for our port, but also for our port companies and numerous other regional businesses that rely on the cargoes these vessels carry," said Port Director Ian Hirt. "For northwest Indiana, the opening of the St.

07 Oct 2016

Site for Indiana's Fourth Port Being Examined

The Ports of Indiana announced that Indiana Michigan Power has agreed to sell its recently retired Tanners Creek coal plant in Lawrenceburg, Ind., to a brownfield redevelopment company that is working with the Ports of Indiana to evaluate the site for use as the state's fourth port. "Infrastructure critical to our state's economy includes more than just roads," said Governor Mike Pence. "Indiana's ports and waterways have been tremendous catalysts for economic growth in this state for decades, and there is great potential here in southeast Indiana to develop a fourth port that will further energize our economy. St. Louis-based Commercial Development Company, Inc.

13 Nov 2016

Holcomb to Speak at Indiana Logistics Summit

Newly-elected Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb will provide special keynote remarks at next week's Indiana Logistics Summit. The two-day event is scheduled for Nov. 16-17 at the Indiana Convention Center and the Governor-elect will speak at 9 a.m. in the Sagamore Ballroom on Thursday, Nov. 17. Hosted by Ports of Indiana, Purdue University and Conexus Indiana, the Summit brings together over 350 executives from the logistics and advanced manufacturing sector to discuss critical issues facing all modes of transportation, and will also include 150 high school students participating in "Logistics U," a parallel program exploring 200 years of logistics in honor of Indiana's bicentennial.