Port Chair Bob Smith News

2013 budgets approval reflects strong financial performance & commitment to investments tied to its Strategic Action Plan. In 2013, the Port intends to continue improving its business lines by attracting more projects to its Foreign-Trade Zone and development finance programs, and strategically enhancing the financial performance of the maritime operation. As a result, operating revenues are expected to increase 18 percent next year, and the Port will be positioned to target more resources to strategic initiatives without significantly increasing overall operating expenditures. “Both our results this year and the budgets for next year demonstrate our management team’s fiscal discipline,” said Port Chair Bob Smith.

Port of Cleveland commissions two custom-made boats, named 'Flotsam' and 'Jetson', for removal of floating debris. The two new vessels will remove floating debris from the Cuyahoga River and downtown Lake Erie shoreline. They are part of the Port’s broader mission to help restore the health of the river and serve as a proactive environmental steward in and around the waterways. The Port formally commissioned the sister vessels – Flotsam and Jetsam – and their crews during a ceremony at North Coast Harbor along Cleveland’s downtown lakeshore.

Largest Construction Project in Decade, Improves Service for Shippers. The Port of Cleveland held a ribbon-cutting today to mark the launch of a new rail loop that will provide better and more efficient service at the port, and improve access to markets throughout North America. “We needed to reinvent the way the Port connects shippers to railroads,” said Port CEO Will Friedman. Slightly more than a mile long, the rail loop connects the two sides of the port’s rail system for the first time, allowing cargo to move on either CSX or Norfolk Southern, the two Class 1 railroads that serve the port. The loop doubles the port’s rail capacity and will give more shippers opportunities to use the Port to transport larger volumes to more markets.