Page 36: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Sep/Oct 2018)

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PORT DEVELOPMENT

We were that Banana Port on the Coast of Mississippi, which is still a cornerstone of what we do. We are the nation’s second largest green fruit import facility, but you look at the diversifca- tion now. Throw in there the fact that we are one of seventeen strategic ports in the U.S. to be able to handle military cargo, and this port now becomes as diverse as any large scale facility you see anywhere in the United States. So we’re extremely proud of what we’ve been able to do.” – Jonathan Daniels, Executive Director of the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport million settlement with the MCJ slated to be used for housing. tions. With the permit in-hand, the port is now evaluating options

In October 2012 at a Port of Gulfport commission meeting to complete that dredge and fll project.

long-time port director Don Allee announced he would leave the By the end of 2017 Daniels had rebuilt the port and more. With next month. He had been criticized when he disclosed that the the completion of a separate 84-acre addition, the Port of Gulf- $570 million in HUD grants did not include the cost of dredging port now spans 300 acres. The comprehensive restoration pro- the port to 50 feet. gram includes the construction of wharfs, terminals, container storage, three new ship-to-shore gantry cranes, and intermodal

Daniels Hired container transfer facilities. It offers a 36-foot-deep by 250-foot-

On April 29, 2013, the Mississippi State Port Authority board wide channel and a 1,320-foot turning basin.

of commissioners hired Jonathan Daniels as the new execu- It offers nine berths totaling 5,800 linear feet of dock space and tive director for the Port at Gulfport. He was recruited from the one Ro-Ro ramp. It offers two Gottwald mobile harbor cranes, a upstate New York, Port of Oswego in large part because of his bulk unloader and more than 400,000 sq. ft. of covered storage, background in economic development. Before taking the job in open container storage with reefer plug outlets; customs-secured

Oswego, Daniels was executive director of the Eastern Maine boundaries with roving patrols and direct on-dock rail service

Development Corporation, which included a six county region in provided by the Kansas City Southern Railway. The port is des- the state of Maine. ignated Foreign Trade Zone #92.

In November 2017, the Army Corps of Engineers fnally re- Where nothing was left standing after Katrina, the port one- leased the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Port of Gulfport by-one retained tenants and attracted others as it rebuilt. They in-

Expansion Project. That decision paves the way for a 282-acre clude Chiquita, Dole Food Company, Crowley Maritime Corpo- dredge and fll program for further expansion of the port’s opera- ration, Chemours, McDermott International, Inc., Topship, LLC,

Credit: Mississippi State Port Authority

Credit: Marty Bahamonde/FEMA

Arial photo of Port of Gulfport The results of the 25 foot storm surge, buildings destroyed and containers after Hurricane Katrina. scattered, at the Port of Gulfport following Hurricane Katrina.

36 Maritime Logistics Professional September/October 2018 | |