The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) resumed limited cargo and vessel operations on Thursday, just four days after Hurricane Ida made landfall in southeast Louisiana.
Container operations resumed today at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal, just nine days after Ida made landfall. The first two ships worked at the container terminal were the MSC Charleston at New Orleans Terminal and Hapag Lloyd's CSL Manhattan at Ports America. Seacor’s container on barge service will be worked tonight by Ports America.
”The state of Louisiana and our entire maritime industry are resilient. In the wake of this powerful storm, we are thankful for our essential port workers, maritime partners, as well as the federal, state, and local partners who worked tirelessly to get the Port NOLA gateway up and running,” said Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of Port NOLA. “Nationally, Port NOLA supports nearly 120,000 jobs and generates an economic impact of nearly $30 billion. Our focus has been to resume operations quickly and safely.”
On Wednesday, the Coast Guard reopened the Lower Mississippi River to all vessel traffic from mile marker 105 to the mouth of the River. The port’s terminals and industrial real estate properties sustained no major damage, due to their location within the $14 billion federal Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System.
Immediately following Ida, Port NOLA implemented its hurricane restoration plan, locating employees, assessing facility impacts, and coordinating with state and local agencies. Seven general cargo vessels remained in port during Hurricane Ida, and cargo operations for these vessels resumed on Thursday. Approximately 70 dockworkers worked cargo operations on Friday.
The Lower Mississippi River from Baton Rouge, La., to the Gulf is one of the busiest port complexes in the world, with approximately 6,000 oceangoing ships annually transiting the river and handling 60% of the nation’s export grain and 20 percent of its energy.
