Gov. John Bel Edwards announced a historic public-private partnership between the state of Louisiana, the Port of New Orleans and two global maritime industry leaders to build a $1.8 billion state-of-the-art container facility on the Lower Mississippi River. The new Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) in St. Bernard Parish will be able to serve vessels of all sizes, dramatically increasing Louisiana’s import and export capacity and stimulating the creation of more than 17,000 new jobs statewide by 2050, Port NOLA estimates.

Today, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) announced the first projects selected to receive a total of $3 million in grant funding under the Class II and III Rail Infrastructure Improvement Program.

Today, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) announced progress on the Louisiana International Terminal in St. Bernard Parish, including investments in sustainability, updates on transportation infrastructure, and a new terminal design that directly addresses early community input on traffic, neighborhood buffers, drainage and more.

Today, New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB) Railroad General Manager, Tomeka Watson-Bryant, was honored as one of Railway Age’s 2022 Women in Rail. Watson-Bryant, who became NOPB General Manager in June 2022, was one of 23 honorees from across the country recognized for her leadership, innovation and accomplishments in the railroading industry.

In an ongoing effort to engage local businesses in the New Orleans Gateway, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) will host a Procurement Contractor’s Resource Event on Tuesday, Oct. 25 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at NOPB’s Joe Spot Training Center, 4822 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70115.

Today, Brandy D. Christian, Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) President and CEO, and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB) CEO, delivered the 2022 State of the Port address highlighting successes across the Port’s four lines of business and the completion of several vital maritime infrastructure projects. This was the first State of the Port gathering since 2019 before the pandemic.

Today, the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) elected Jack C. Jensen, Jr. to serve as Board Chairman, succeeding Charles H. Ponstein, whose term as Chairman ended this month. Also elected were Joseph F. Toomy, who will serve as Vice Chairman, and Walter J. Leger, Jr., who will serve as Secretary-Treasurer for the nine-month term.

The Port of New Orleans was recently awarded $514,964 in Port Security Grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to upgrade technology at the Harbor Police Department (HPD)’s Maritime Security Operations Center (MSOC).

The inaugural sailing of American Cruise Lines’ (ACL) American Symphony is set to depart Aug. 27^th from the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA). This state-of-the-art cruise passenger vessel is the fifth riverboat in ACL’s ground-breaking new series and adds to American Cruise Lines’ four other homeported cruise vessels in New Orleans.

A plaque exchange took place on board where Port and ACL officials welcomed the newest riverboat on the Mississippi River. American Symphony will become the ninth homeported river cruise vessel that New Orleans hosts year-round.

Louisiana elected officials, federal partners and maritime stakeholders joined the Big River Coalition to celebrate the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completion of the first two phases of the deepening of the Mississippi River Ship Channel, which presently provides a maximum draft for vessels to the Port of New Orleans at 50-feet. The Ship Channel has been mechanically deepened for approximately the first 200 miles of the Channel but additional efforts are required to open the deeper draft north of the Huey P. Long Bridge.

On Thursday, Gov. John Bel Edwards said that meetings with international business leaders in Europe this week have reaffirmed that Louisiana’s unique combination of sustainable energy solutions and global supply chain logistics advantages are positioning the state for long-term economic growth. The governor made his comments prior to embarking for Normandy to pay tribute to U.S. military veterans at historical World War II sites, following a series of Wednesday meetings with state and international business executives and economic development leaders as part of a weeklong economic mission to the Netherlands and France.

The Harbor Police Department (HPD) of the Port of New Orleans has named Cedric Turner to serve as Captain of the specialized law enforcement agency. Turner has served in law enforcement for 26 years and 20 of those working up the ranks in HPD. As Captain, Turner will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of HPD’s Patrol Division, which is critical in HPD’s mission in ensuring the safety and security throughout port property and waterways within the Port’s three-parish jurisdiction of Jefferson, Orleans and St. Bernard Parish.