Port of New Orleans container vessel operations resume after Hurricane Ida

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Brandy Christian

The Port of New Orleans announced Tuesday that its container vessel operations had resumed, just nine days after Hurricane Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana.

The MSC Charleston was worked at the New Orleans Terminal of the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, and the Hapag Lloyd CSL Manhattan was worked at Ports America, while Seacor’s container on barge service was worked Tuesday night by Ports America.

“The Port of New Orleans and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad are resilient and strong. Our wharves are busy today, handling both container and breakbulk cargo vessels, and trains are moving,” Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of Port NOLA and CEO of NOPB, said. “Our success can be attributed to coordination with a long list of partners: FEMA, MARAD, our local, state and federal leaders, terminal operators, tenants, International Longshoremen’s Association, river pilots, Entergy, Carnival Cruise Line, our dedicated Port and NOPB teams, and others.”

Port NOLA’s breakbulk vessel operations resumed just four days after Hurricane Ida, on Sept. 2. New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) resumed operations on Sept. 2 as well, connecting BNSF Railway, CN, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific. Port NOLA said that navigation along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway east of the Mississippi River has also resumed.

Despite fierce winds and mass power outages throughout the region brought on by Ida, the port’s terminals and industrial real estate properties were spared from damage. Port officials attributed that to the port’s location within the $14 billion federal Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System. Officials said Port NOLA’s Louisiana International Terminal development, also located within the Hurricane Risk Reduction System, was spared any major damage.

Officials said the Port of New Orleans supports nearly 120,000 jobs and generates nearly $30 billion in economic impact. Port NOLA is a top importer of coffee, steel, natural rubber and consumer goods, and a top exporter of frozen poultry and plastic resins for manufacturing. It is part of the Lower Mississippi River basin stretching from Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico, which is regarded as one of the busiest port complexes in the world, handling 60 percent of America’s export grain and 20 percent of its energy. An estimated 6,000 oceangoing ships transit the river annually.