Virginia Port Authority News

Zero emission is a nice idea, but who’s going to pay for it? The U.S. EPA is readying big money for zero emission ports.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on two high-profile port initiatives that it hopes will move the needle in a big way towards U.S. ports’ zero emissions (ZE) operations and clean air goals.The first initiative started last May when EPA published a request for information and comments that would help the Agency develop Guidance it could use to evaluate funding requests for projects for zero-emission vehicles, port equipment and related infrastructure.

Most of the media coverage of offshore wind development in the United States focuses on the leases of the offshore areas where the wind turbines will be located. However, equally important is the landside dimension of these projects, including the manufacture, installation, maintenance and operation of the turbines. Several awards made in the last two rounds of funding under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) show how offshore wind now offers an additional direction of port development for which funding is available.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded nearly $39 million in grants to 12 marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help expand marine highway services on the United States’ navigable waterways to reduce congestion, alleviate supply chain bottlenecks, and move goods more quickly from ships to shelves.“At a time of record demand for goods, it’s more important than ever to…

The United States' largest dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation on Wednesday announced the receipt of $107 million in new contract awards along the U.S. East Coast.The awarded dredging work includes: Norfolk Harbor Navigation Improvements Project (Capital, Virginia, $56.8 million), Charleston Lower Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project (Maintenance, South Carolina, $15.4 million), Tampa Harbor Maintenance Dredging 45-Foot Project (Maintenance, Florida, $13 million)…

Sweden-based Skanska, one of the country's largest construction firms, has signed a contract with the Virginia Port Authority to rebuild 72 acres of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. The project will redevelop approximately 72 acres of the 287-acre Portsmouth Marine Terminal for use as an offshore wind staging port which will improve 1,500 feet of an existing 3,540-foot wharf.Skanska will include the contract worth $223 million, about SEK 2.3 billion…

Some equations just don’t add up. For example, storing 500 offshore wind turbine blades at a site with only space for 400 (and that’s only if you don’t store the other key elements required to build a full turbine). Elaine Maslin visited Siemens Gamesa’s blade manufacturing facility in Hull, UK, to find out more.Storage space is becoming a major challenge that’s looming for ports involved in the fast-evolving offshore wind industry. It’s already becoming a challenge for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy at its blade manufacturing facility in Hull, on England’s east coast.

The Port of Virginia and the US Army Corps of Engineers today signed the agreement committing the federal government to begin its financial investment in the construction effort to widen and deepen the commercial shipping channels and Norfolk Harbor.With a group of federal and state officials in attendance, Virginia Port Authority CEO Stephen A. Edwards and Col. Brian P. Hallberg, the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District commander, signed the Project Partnership Agreement.

The recently approved federal work plan contains the final piece of funding for The Port of Virginia’s dredging project that will create the deepest and widest shipping channels on the U.S. East Coast by late 2024.The work plan, released last week by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, allocates funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) and contains $72 million for the dredging project. The federal government and the port agreed to a 50-50 cost share of the project at its outset in 2015 when the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) awarded $12.6 million in grants to nine marine highway projects across the Nation under the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). The funding will help address supply chain disruptions, enhance the movement of goods along our navigable waterways, and expand existing waterborne freight services in Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.“These investments through the America’s Marine Highway Program will help us move more goods…

Offshore wind turbine maker Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy will open the first offshore wind turbine blade facility in the United States.The company on Monday held a launch ceremony with representatives from state and local government authorities and wind industry partners in Virginia."This is also the first commitment by a global offshore wind turbine manufacturer in a U.S.-based supply chain," Siemens Gamesa said.Siemens Gamesa plans to develop more than 80 acres/32 hectares at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on Friday announced the availability of $10,819,000 in grant funding for the America’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP), which aims to encourage the use of America’s 25,000 miles of navigable waterways."The America’s Marine Highway Program increases the use of environmentally sustainable practices to move freight across our transportation system.” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. “These investments…

As part of his Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (EO 14008)—issued on the first day he took office—President Biden made significant commitments to renewable energy. These commitments include collaborating with multiple federal agencies in the United States and promoting critical industry support for the acquisition of electric vehicles for the federal fleet, as well as rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, the landmark international agreement signed in 2015 to limit global warming.

The Virginia Port Authority Board (VPA) of Commissioners today introduced Stephen Edwards as the next leader of The Port of Virginia. He succeeds John F. Reinhart who for the last seven years has led the VPA as its CEO and executive director.Edwards has extensive experience in the global transportation industry most recently as the president and CEO of TraPac, LLC (TraPac), which operates container terminals in Los Angeles, Oakland and Florida. His tenure with the VPA begins on January 19, 2021.“I am delighted to be joining the Virginia Port Authority team in January,” Edwards said.

The Port of Virginia said it has opened its doors to cruise ships idled by the coronavirus pandemic.Since the outbreak of the virus and the cruise industry’s voluntary suspension of U.S. operations, empty cruise ships have been seeking temporary berth opportunities at multiple ports, with Florida taking the greatest share of the vessels. For a cruise ship, it is more economical to idle at a port rather than at sea because it does not burn as much fuel and provides easy access…

Danish energy giant Ørsted has entered into an agreement with the Port of Virginia to lease a portion of the Portsmouth Marine Terminal for offshore wind staging materials and equipment.According to Virginia governor's office, Orsted could use the site for its work on the Coastal Virginia offshore wind project, which it is developing with Dominion Energy, as well as for staging materials and equipment for projects up and down the US east coast.Once executed, the lease will not expire before 2026, meaning that it covers a period in which Ørsted plans to install at least 3 GW of wind energy in the US.“This is a big step towards making Virginia a leader in wind energy and offshore wind manufacturing,” said Governor Ralph Northam.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has announced that it will supply 25 Kalmar Hybrid Shuttle Carriers to the Port of Virginia, a growing, deep water port on the U.S. East Coast.The $23 million (USD) order was booked in Cargotec's 2019 Q3 order intake, and represents the exercising of a contract option for further units that was agreed upon in 2017. Delivery of the new machines is scheduled to be completed by the end of July 2020.The new units will be delivered to Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), which is the port’s largest terminal and capable of handling the biggest vessels in the Atlantic trade. The next-generation Kalmar Hybrid Shuttle Carrier features a robust new mobile drive…

July is Second Busiest Month in Port of Virginia’s History.The Port of Virginia in July processed 265,559 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in July, making it the second busiest month in the port’s history.The strong cargo performance was driven by an increase of more than 4 percent in loaded import containers, and a jump of nearly 18 percent in export empty containers, which are being repositioned across the globe to handle peak season cargo.“We are continuing to set volume records.

A Liebherr LHM 420 Crane is at the heart of a rapidly expanding shortsea shipping success story. Reliability is the key for a port that’s turned the corner, with nowhere to go but ‘up.’Way back in January of 1996, I moved to Richmond, Virginia from Houston, Texas. Still very much in the maritime business as a cargo surveyor and ship expeditor, the Port of Richmond intrigued me, every time I drove past it on I-95. Eventually, I got a tour of the struggling port, courtesy of then port director and retired USCG Captain Marty Moynihan. Moynihan, an energetic executive, was keen to expand the port’s horizons.Back then, as much as half of the port’s meager business was tobacco shipping to and from Philip Morris, just across the street.

SEA\LNG, a multi-sector industry coalition, created to accelerate the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, has announced that the Port of Virginia has become the first port in the US to join them.A press release from the LNG body quoted Peter Keller, Chairman, SEA\LNG, as commenting: “We’re very pleased to welcome the Port of Virginia as our first US port member. The US has vastly increased its LNG export capacity since the industry really took flight in early 2016, inspiring development in LNG bunkering capabilities on the East and West Coasts. The addition of the Port of Virginia to the coalition marks the climbing interest in LNG as a commercially viable…

Are paradigms shifting on the increased role of inland waterways with respect to short sea shipping and the Nation’s marine transportation system? Investigation and implementation of new commerce shipping avenues are becoming more common along the Eastern seaboard of the United States with each new announcement of a Port Authority supporting the development of shipping routes for container on barge services.In the past few weeks, the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) furthered their quest to develop a marine highway to support the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

What does the future hold for Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval station? Building on the accomplishments of the last 100 years, leading experts will consider the possibilities and navigate toward a secure and sustainable future at the upcoming symposium, Naval Station Norfolk: Charting Our Next 100 Years, Friday October 20th at the Main, hotel and conference center. The Future Fleet Design session will be conducted by VADM Richard P. Breckenridge from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.. The session will discuss the USFF Fleet Design Plan that will drive the implementation of Fleet Design by 2023. The presentation on Fleet Design will define how the fleet…

Following more than two years of collaborative development with the local motor carrier community, The Port of Virginia today is its trucker reservation system (TRS) to begin the effort of managing the flow of truck volume at the port. “This is a twenty-first century tool that holds benefits for motor carriers, cargo owners, logistics companies and our terminal operations team,” said John F. Reinhart, the CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority. The port said it is committed to a phased roll-out of TRS. In this initial phase, motor carriers calling Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., Monday through Friday, must have a reservation. Additional mandatory hours are planned as the TRS gains a firm footing in the trucking community.

Despite a slight dip in volume of .7 percent in February, The Port of Virginia’s fiscal year 2018 cargo volumes are up nearly 4 percent, or nearly 69,000 TEUs. “February is a short month and our volume was relatively static, in a year-on-year comparison,” said John F. Reinhart, CEO and executive director of the Virginia Port Authority (VPA). “January featured two snowstorms, which had an impact on our performance, yet we continue to perform in-line with our fiscal-year volume forecast. In February, the port processed 218,729 TEUs, which is .7 percent, or 1,647 fewer units when compared with last February. Cargo volumes at Richmond Marine Terminal (RMT) and Virginia Inland Port (VIP) and were up 45 and 4 percent, respectively.