Partnerships: Georgia/Virginia, Orleans/St. Louis

Georgia and Virginia Port Authorities File East Coast Gateway Terminal Agreement

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) joined the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) in a February 24 filing with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) to create the "East Coast Gateway Terminal Agreement."

The agreement encourages voluntary cooperation in the areas of operational and supply chain efficiencies, safety, communications and customer service.

"The U.S. East Coast continues to see larger vessels and cargo exchanges since the opening of the expanded Panama Canal last year," VPA CEO and Executive Director John Reinhart and GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch said in a joint statement. "Increasingly, our customers are seeking gateway ports on the East Coast that can leverage sufficient landside infrastructure to ensure the free flow of cargo. The states of Georgia and Virginia have made the necessary investments to prepare for this new era in global trade. The East Coast Gateway Terminal Agreement is an innovative collaboration that will allow us to find new ways to become more efficient and effective."

The agreement will enable the member ports to work together to find ways to become more efficient and effective, which will benefit the citizens of their respective states, as well as shippers and the carriers.

Additional areas of cooperation between the GPA and VPA include acquisition and utilization of joint marketing materials and sharing best practices in areas such as terminal operating systems, training, cargo handling, access, turn-times and infrastructure, as well as supporting the promotion of all-water routes from the U.S. East Coast to the international marketplace via the Panama Canal.

Georgia and Virginia are not the first terminal operators to file with the FMC to share information. In December 2016, APM Terminals, DP World, Hutchinson Port Holdings, PSA International, Shanghai International Port (Group) Co., and the Port of Rotterdam Authority filed the "Global Ports Group Agreement" to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of the container port industry.

Port of New Orleans and St. Louis Regional Freightway Sign Memorandum of Understanding

The Port of New Orleans has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the St. Louis Regional Freightway to exchange market and operational information with the goal of growing trade and building upon existing and new business relationships. The agreement also calls for joint marketing efforts.

St. Louis Regional Freightway is an enterprise of Bi-State Development (BSD), an entity dedicated to the economic development of the St. Louis region of Missouri and Illinois.

The MOU is the culmination of discussions begun during a September 2016 visit to St. Louis by top officials for the Port of New Orleans. At that time, it became evident that it would be mutually beneficial to foster even greater collaboration and leverage the intermodal connectivity between the Port of New Orleans and the St. Louis region.

Port CEO Brandy Christian signed the agreement February 23 in New Orleans along with representatives of BSD, the St. Louis Regional Freightway, the St. Louis Development Corporation, America’s Central Port (Granite City, IL), and the Kaskaskia (IL) Regional Port District.

"The Port of New Orleans historically has strong ties to business and industry via the St. Louis corridor," said Ms. Christian. "Today’s agreement solidifies our efforts to work with our inland neighbors to develop new opportunities and optimize our connectivity."

"This agreement, and the collaborative partnership it is founded on, will go a long way toward helping coordinate the Port of New Orleans’ supply chain with our supply chain and enhancing the St. Louis region’s ability to move freight up and down the Mississippi River for the entire nation," said Freightway Executive Director Mary Lamie. "We now have a framework to work more closely together to generate new business activity that will help accelerate the present level of economic growth by increasing revenues to the Port of New Orleans and optimizing the St. Louis region’s freight network."

At the core of the MOU is the shared recognition that continued growth at the Port of New Orleans and future growth of freight movement through various ports in the bi-state St. Louis region, are intrinsically connected.
Among the opportunities the St. Louis Regional Freightway hopes to capitalize on are new container-on-barge services.