AAPA’s Board of Directors has unanimously elected Paul Anderson, President and CEO of Port Tampa Bay, as the Chairman of the 111-year-old association, effective immediately. Anderson will serve out the remainder of the two-year term begun by Sean Strawbridge, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi. Strawbridge has resigned his chairmanship of AAPA effective immediately and his post at the port effective June 2. The Association, its members, and its staff thank Mr. Strawbridge for his tenure as chair, during which the groundwork was laid for national freight planning and infrastructure permitting reform.

 

Anderson brings a wealth of experience to AAPA, most especially as a former Presidential appointee at the Federal Maritime Commission and his leadership of Port Tampa Bay, which has hosted numerous Association events including the POWERS Program Summit this past January. Anderson is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Jacksonville Port Authority. He currently chairs the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Program and is the former chairperson of the Florida Ports Council.

AAPA is excited to introduce a new interactive map aimed at providing a hemispheric-wide view of the association’s member ports. Created by AAPA member ESRI using its innovative geographic information systems (GIS) technology, this interactive map charts out AAPA member ports throughout the Western Hemisphere. This visually compelling, easy-to-use tool allows members to utilize its powerful mapping and analytics software to their benefit. An extension of AAPA’s membership directory, the GIS map displays the location of ports and pop-ups provide information about primary cargoes, channel depths, and other general information by clicking on each port’s pin marker. The GIS map is mobile-friendly and can be accessed on AAPA’s website.

AAPA is pleased to welcome Chelsea Kertes as Director of Conferences and Events effective May 23, 2023. She will lead the collaborative planning and execution of all AAPA events. Kertes brings a variety of experience including event development and implementation from her previous work with Destination Cleveland, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, and most recently as conference producer for Smithers. She earned a BA from Baldwin Wallace University and holds an MBA from Tiffin University.

On May 22, AAPA’s ACCELerate Apprenticeship program was honored to commemorate National Maritime Day. ACCELerate works directly with maritime employers to assist them in identifying maritime workforce needs and building apprenticeships to help meet those needs. Since ACCELerate’s inception, over 2000 apprentices have participated in our program and helped us build a stronger maritime industry. Did you know that apprenticeship has a retention rate of greater than 90%? We are proud to be educating employers and workers about the benefits of the apprenticeship model, and how it can continue to help grow the maritime industry. For more information about ACCELerate or its programs, contact Executive Director Barbara R. Murray.

The Port of Los Angeles processed 688,110 TEUs in April, down 22% compared to last April, which was one of the busiest on record. “A cooling global economy, warehouses laden with aging inventory and prolonged West Coast labor negotiations have all contributed to a slowdown in trade,” said Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka.

The Galveston Wharves is investing $53 million in a major expansion at Cruise Terminal 25 to accommodate Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Jubilee, a new cruise ship arriving in December. In addition to the cruise terminal improvements, the port also will make mandated improvements to facilities used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) honored the Port of Benton with its 2023 Community Engagement Award for the Van Giesen Street / State Route 224 railroad crossing replacement project. Each year, WPPA recognizes ports throughout the state for extraordinary accomplishments in the categories of job creation, community engagement, creative partnership and environmental stewardship.

The Port of San Diego has partnered with KIGT, Inc., a minority-owned, manufacturer and services provider of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, to install ten public EV charging stations in the San Diego Convention Center parking garage. The recent addition of the EV charging stations brings the total amount of stations along the San Diego Bay waterfront to 62, of which 36 are public and 26 are port staff parking stalls.

The Port of Virginia continues to be an expanding economic force in the Commonwealth’s economy by helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in sales, income, taxes and fees, says a recently published study. The study was conducted by the College of William & Mary and analyzes the overall value of the port to the Virginia economy during FY 2022.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey continues to place high priority on customer experience across all its transportation facilities. Over the last year, the agency launched a new Customer Experience (CX) Working Group to deliver world-class customer-centered experiences as a part of its commitment to being a world-class transportation authority.

PortMiami announced the arrival of Zim Shipping Company’s new Colibri Xpress service, adding to its growing list of global shipping partners and creating more choice for its cargo customers. Zim is one of the of the world’s leading container shipping companies, operating a fleet of more than 80 vessels and offering services to over 180 ports worldwide.

Port Tampa Bay became the first port in the country to be accredited through the National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy’s (NMLEA) Maritime Security Accreditation and Digitization Program (MARSEC ADaPt). Established in 2022 through the efforts of the NMLEA’s Maritime Security Accreditation Working Group, a collaborative group of maritime stakeholders from the private, public, academic, and research sectors, the MARSEC ADaPt process looks at a set of standards created to measure a port’s “ADaPtiveness.”

Electronics Officer, U.S. Merchant Marine, Nationwide; American Radio Association

Outdoor Education Teacher, Charleston, SC; Charleston Collegiate School