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Facility Investments: Fourchon, Nicaragua

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On July 31, the Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC) officially opened an emergency operations center, which serves as a base for incident response during emergencies impacting the Port Fourchon area and offshore oil and gas operations.  The government of Nicaragua is moving forward with an investment program targeted at infrastructure enhancements and construction at ports and tourist centers administered by the national port agency, Empresa Portuaria Nacional (EPN).

Port Fourchon Dedicates Emergency Operations Center Facility 

The Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC) officially opened the Fourchon Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on July 31 and dedicated it to the memory of GLPC board member John "Johnny" Melancon Sr., who passed away in 2010. The GLPC is the governing body of Port Fourchon.

Mr. Melancon’s son, John Melancon Jr., the board’s current treasurer, accepted a framed copy of the dedication resolution and building photo on behalf of the Melancon family.

"My dad was a vocal and active member of the Port Commission board for fifteen years," said John Melancon Jr. "He saw Port Fourchon’s exponential growth unfold, and he had a hand in steering the port’s finances and personnel to meet the demands of the future. I think he’d be happy to see what we've done here at the new Fourchon EOC facility. It’s all about thinking proactively." 

Located next to GLPC’s Fourchon Operations Center, the EOC is meant to serve as the epicenter of incident response during emergencies impacting the Port Fourchon area or oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. 

"As our Fourchon Ops Center was the main base for parish response in 2010, the port commission realized that there was a need for a facility where all response agencies, emergency services, industry leaders and incident managers could work collaboratively to manage any type of incident or disaster, and it needed to be separate from our daily operations base," said GLPC Executive Director Chett Chiasson. "Using our experience as a port that successfully morphed into a model in emergency response, we secured federal port security grant funds through the Department of Homeland Security and started planning the Fourchon EOC."

The $3.4 million EOC was financed by nearly $1.4 million in federal port security grant funds and $2 million from the port commission. It houses technologically-advanced, real-time data sharing and communications equipment. The EOC will be available for government agencies, port tenant companies, and industry leaders for  full-scale emergency training exercises and/or incident management and response drills. 

Family of Johnny Melancon, Sr. at the July 31st Dedication of the Fourchon EOC.
Photo/Port Fourchon

Nicaragua Investing Millions of Dollars in Port Expansion, Upgrades 

The government of Nicaragua is moving forward with an investment program targeted at infrastructure enhancements and construction at ports and tourist centers administered by the national port agency, Empresa Portuaria Nacional (EPN).

"We are working on future investments to be realized at the Port of Corinto, and to that end are in touch with a Japanese investor who wants to invest approximately $150 million for dock expansion, and have been authorized by our government to buy a gantry crane, two frontend loaders, and a tug boat, costing altogether $22 million," said Virgilio Siva, general manager of the EPN.

Mr. Silva noted as well tourist-oriented expansion underway at Puerto Salvador Allende in the capital city of Managua and San Jorge in Rivas, which provides docking facilities for boats traveling to and from scenic Ometepe Island in Lake Nicaragua.

"In the port of San Jorge in Rivas, we are investing $5 million in the construction of a tourist center for the enjoyment of families in the town and for those who use the port where we will also build a marina with shops, restaurants and are thinking of expanding the dock which will have a water depth of 5 meters for the benefit of ferries, all of which we hope to completed by the end of 2015," he added.

In total, the EPN is investing $15 million in the Port of Corinto, $5 million in San Jorge, and $1.0 million for the construction of administrative offices in the Caribbean coast Port of Rama. This is in addition to foreign investment, such as the $35 million for fourth stage development of Puerto Salvador Allende.
 

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