Infrastructure Development

Thursday, May 23, 2013

   The Port of Houston Authority's commission Tuesday awarded a contract worth nearly $50 million to Konecranes Finland Corp. for four electric wharf cranes at Barbours Cut Container Terminal.    The commission also amended a contract with Konecranes for eight diesel electric container yard cranes for Barbours Cut to include three additional diesel electric container yard cranes for the Bayport Terminal at a cost of $5.9 million.    Len Waterworth, the port's executive dire...

Thursday, May 23, 2013

   The U.S. Transportation Department on Wednesday awarded a $10.9 million TIGER 2012 grant to the City of West Memphis, Ark., to expand the city’s port.    “Once the expansion is complete, the port will be able to handle increased freight rail capacity, helping businesses send more goods to markets across the country. It will also help position the port and the region as a freight transportation leader, attracting development and creating new jobs for those living in and around West ...

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Va. Gov. McDonnell signs landmark transportation bill.    Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell last week signed the breakthrough transportation funding bill passed by the General Assembly in March.    The "Virginia's Road to the Future" bill, the first comprehensive transportation funding plan in 27 years, provides an additional $3.5 billion in funding by 2018 for new road and bridge construction, mass transit, rail and other needs, along with several reforms to improve project development. &...

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Gov. Scott    The budget signed Monday by Florida Gov. Rick Scott includes a record $278 million for development of the the state's 15 seaports.    Port directors applauded Scott for making ports and trade a priority of his economic agenda. Florida is providing $112 million toward the $181 million cost of dredging the Port of Miami's main channel from 42 to 50 feet, including $77 million for the federal share of the project at Scott's direction. The governor has also committed t...

Monday, May 20, 2013

   Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) moved 2.4 million tons of cargo in April, a 4.7 percent increase -- or 108,532 tons –- over the same month a year ago.    “Our total tonnage makes April the highest volume month on record,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz    The GPA handled 258,951 TEU, 10,040 TEUs more than April 2012. The port also handled 57,709 auto and machinery units in April, its third highest month for roll-on, roll-off cargo.    Foltz said four ne...

Friday, May 17, 2013

   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday awarded a $122 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. for deepening the entrance to the Port of Miami to 50 feet, the company said.    Excavation is expected to commence in August and be completed in time for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in 2015, which will enable 14,000 TEU container vessels to reach the U.S. East Coast from Asia via the Pacific Ocean.     Miami would become the third port on...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   Governments in Belize, Central America and the Dominican Republic should create an environment that embraces an integrated, intermodal sea-land network, according to a recent report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).    A stronger supply-chain network would help push global trade forward and would also encourage trade exchanges between the countries in the region.    The two authors of the study, Amar Ramudhin and Don Ratliff, posit that a number of initiative...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   The Coast Guard has completed an environmental assessment of a plan by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to increase the clearance or "air draft" beneath the Bayonne Bridge from 151 feet to 215 feet and found no significant impact, meaning a permit can be issued so work can begin on the project.    Raising the roadway will allow larger container vessels to traverse the Kill Van Kull to reach terminals in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J. More big ships are expected to ca...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   DHL Supply Chain will invest 10 million euros ($12.9 million) in Vietnam over the next two years, hiring new staff, upgrading current infrastructure and building a new facility in North Vietnam.    The integrator began operations in the country in 2001.    DHL plans to hire 1,400 new workers in Vietnam, increasing its workforce by 170 percent. This new influx of employees will be added to an employment base that has already expanded by 800 workers in the past there years...

Thursday, May 16, 2013

   The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed a Water Resources Development Act reauthorization bill by a vote of 83 to 14 that sets the stage for Congress to appropriate money for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spend on maintenance of harbors and inland waterways, and for deepening and other water-related projects.    Congress has not passed a WRDA law since 2007, which has put a freeze on new projects that industry groups insist are necessary to maintain efficient commerce and trade.&...

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

   The Port of Long Beach is recirculating a draft environmental impact statement for a proposed grain export facility at Pier T on Terminal Island.    The public is being encouraged to comment on the EIR in writing or at a public hearing scheduled for June 5.    The grain transload facility proposed by Total Terminals International would receive railcars with 53-foot domestic containers full of grain and dried distillers grain with solubles, a byproduct of ethanol pro...

Monday, May 13, 2013

   A third runway at London Heathrow Airport is the only way to prevent a cargo capacity crisis, according to Larry Coyne, CEO of Coyne Airways.    In a speech last week in London, Coyne said U.K. logistics firms are vulnerable to losing out on business to companies in mainland Europe if the capacity crunch is not addressed.    His speech came in reaction to the push for an airport on Thames Island in London, a proposal that calls for a two-runway airport with rail and seapo...

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

   NUTEP, a container terminal operator in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, has finished the latest phase of its development program by completing an upgrade to its rail facilities.    The company removed the original rail lines, constructed a new yard at the rear of the terminal, and increased overall block-train capacity at the terminal to 30 trains, or about 112 TEUs each, a month.    Two new loading sidings allow NUTEP to handle two block-trains a day, and two dedicat...

Tuesday, May 07, 2013

   The international consortium responsible for building the $1 billion underwater tunnel connecting the Port of Miami to local highways has completed boring the twin tubes that will carry cruise passengers and container trucks, according to port officials and the Miami Herald .    The tunnel is on schedule to be completed one year from now, well before the Panama Canal Authority finishes adding new locks and wider channels that will enable much larger ships from Asia to deliver...

Monday, May 06, 2013

   During a White House news conference last week, President Obama said Congress' temporary fix of the government-wide sequester cuts to end flight delays is symptomatic of the nation's deferral of infrastructure maintenance writ large that is undermining long-term economic growth.    Obama signed legislation giving the Federal Aviation Administration the flexibility to move money from the Airport Improvement Program, which provides airport authorities with grants for infrastruct...

Friday, May 03, 2013

   Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) has been selected as a bidder for the redevelopment of the Webb Dock West automotive terminal by Australia’s Port of Melbourne Corp.    WWL currently operates 11 terminals throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company said the Webb Dock West’s proximity to Melbourne’s Central Business District provides a “unique chance for a new port operator to demonstrate how a terminal operation can integrate with Melbourne’s residential and commerci...

Friday, May 03, 2013

   The Port of Pittsburgh Commission is building a wireless broadband network along the rivers in Pittsburgh and is seeking partners to explore new applications for transportation, safety, security and environmental monitoring.    The Wireless Waterways project consists of both the network system infrastructure (NSI), which will be scalable and expandable, and an interoperability test bed (ITB). The project has been under construction for nearly a year by the port commission’s contra...

Friday, May 03, 2013

   Thirty-four national trade associations representing port authorities, water carriers, retailers and other shippers, the construction industry and unions, along with dozens of state-level business groups, signed a letter this week urging members of the U.S. Senate to support quick passage of the Water Resources Development Act.    The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee unanimously approved the bill in late March and forwarded it for Senate consideration. It spells...

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

   Iron ore exports are moving through Southern California's Port of Long Beach for the first time in 40 years.    The port said SA Recycling, a long-time exporter of scrap metal through the port, is working with CML Metals Corp. to send iron ore from mines in Utah, California, Arizona and Nevada to Asian steel makers. ( However, the U.S. Geological Service notes that in 2012, mines in Michigan and Minnesota shipped 97 percent of the usable ore produced in the Unit...

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

   President Obama has named Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx to succeed Ray LaHood as secretary of transportation.    Foxx must now be confirmed by the Senate before taking his post.    LaHood, who has served as transportation secretary since 2009, announced in late January that he would resign his post as soon as a successor was confirmed. In a letter to DOT employees at the time, LaHood noted his successes over the previous four years. The contentious pilot fatigue rulin...

Monday, April 29, 2013

   Two South Florida ports, Miami and Port Everglades, are prime examples of the dysfunctional approach in the United States for improving the waterborne transportation system.    Projects undergo a series of congressional approvals and feasibility studies that easily can take longer than a decade to complete before dredging even starts.    Cargo interests worry the Army Corps of Engineers' slow bureaucracy and the paucity of congressional appropriations for increasing ...

Friday, April 26, 2013

   Industry leaders concurred during testimony on Capitol Hill Wednesday that the freight transportation industry is doing a lot to make fleets greener, but said Congress could help reduce air pollution by making it easier to adopt clean energy systems and get infrastructure projects completed that reduce congestion.     Fred Smith, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of FedEx Corp., suggested a reduction in corporate tax rates would help companies ad...

Thursday, April 25, 2013

   The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has awarded a $743.3 million contract to a joint venture of Skanska Koch and Kiewit Infrastructure Co. as part of a $1.29 billion program to increase the navigational clearance of the Bayonne Bridge.    The project will raise clearance below the bridge, or "air draft," from 151 feet to 215 feet, so larger ships can call at container terminals in Newark and Elizabeth, N.J., and on Staten Island, N.Y.    The contract ...

Thursday, April 25, 2013

   The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday notified the public of the fifth round of funding availability for the popular TIGER grant program , which is aimed at multi-modal transportation projects that have a high benefit-cost ratio and don't normally get funded through traditional highway aid to states.    There is $474 million available for the next round, with applications due by June 3. Decisions are expected by late summer or early fall, according to DOT officials....

Thursday, April 25, 2013

   The U.S. Commerce Department has selected 20 companies to join its deputy secretary, Rebecca Blank, on an infrastructure business development trade mission to Sao Paulo, Brazil; Bogota, Colombia; and Panama City, Panama, from May 12-18.    “The governments of these countries have each outlined ambitious infrastructure development plans for the years ahead, and this trade mission will help U.S. companies in a broad range of infrastructure industry sectors make the connections they ...

Thursday, April 25, 2013

   Paul Fisher, president and chief executive officer of industrial real estate developer CenterPoint Properties Trust, announced his retirement.    Fisher was one of the founders of the company in 1993, serving as chief financial officer prior to being named president in 2004. In 2006, the then publicly listed CenterPoint was privatized, with Fisher continuing to serve as president until his appointment as CEO in 2011.    “After more than 20 years of helping build a great f...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

   Old Dominion Freight Line on Monday opened a new container drayage facility to serve rail heads, container yards and ports in the Birmingham, Ala. area.    The Birmingham center is the third container drayage facility for Old Dominion in Alabama and offers pick-up and delivery to any point in the continental United States.    “Co-located with our Birmingham Service Center, the new site will strengthen our network in Alabama, which includes container drayage facilities in...

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

   The U.S. State Department recently issued a presidential permit to the state of Michigan to build a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.    The State Department approves new international border crossings after reviewing whether they are in the national interest.     Local and national officials in Canada and the United States for many years have been developing plans for a second bridge to relieve congestion on the privately-held Ambassador Bridg...

Friday, April 19, 2013

   The U.S. Transportation Department has set aside $8.9 million to repair roads and bridges on federal and tribal land in Arkansas, Minnesota and New Jersey that have been damaged by natural disasters.    The money comes from the Federal Highway Administration’s Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads program. The Army Corps of Engineers will be given $4.9 million to repair flood-damaged roads near Little Rock, Ark. The Bureau of Indian Affairs will get $2 million to build a...

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

   Bill Shuster, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman, has formed a special panel of six committee members to create a national infrastructure strategy across all modes.    The panel, which will include six Republicans and five Democrats, is to work for six months to generate recommendations for the next highway bill. Shuster    Shuster is expected to formally announce the panel Tuesday, and the panel will begin meeting April 24.    J...

Monday, April 15, 2013

   To increase their cargo presence, officials at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport have their sights set on attracting Latin American carriers, perhaps even convincing some to leave their standard hub, Miami International Airport, according to the Metro Atlanta Chamber’s Bob Pertierra.     He pointed out recently in comparing the two cities and their prospects for growth, Atlanta has 15 Fortune 500 companies, while Miami has only one.    “When you lo...

Thursday, April 11, 2013

   President Obama’s budget for fiscal year 2014 includes $4.8 billion in gross discretionary funding for the Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works program, offset in part by a proposal to cancel $100 million in unobligated carryover of funding appropriated prior to fiscal year 2013.    Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, said the budget “continues the administration's emphasis on maintaining the nation's waterborne transportation system, red...

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

   President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal, released this morning in advance of a public unveiling, reserves $50 billion for upfront infrastructure projects, creates a program aimed at increasing private investment in infrastructure, and sets money aside to re-tool the nation’s air-traffic control system.    The transportation measures Obama announced are aimed at improving the D+ infrastructure grade the nation recently received from the American Society of Civil Engineers. ...

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

   The U.S. Department of Transportation plans to issue within the next two weeks a notice of funding availability for the fifth round of TIGER grants, Polly Trottenberg, under secretary for policy, said Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors on Capitol Hill.    Officials expect to make awards by late summer or early fall, she said.    The Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) is a discret...

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

   An Austrian company will build a plant for making hot briquetted iron (HBI), a raw material used for making steel, in Corpus Christi, Texas.    Port Corpus Christi Authority commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a long-term lease agreement with voestalpine Texas Holding, whose parent company is headquartered in Linz, Austria. (The company does not capitalize its name.)    The steelmaker will lease about 475 acres of upland property and 11 acres of submerged land f...

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

   Port Corpus Christi commissioners on Tuesday approved a grant agreement with the U.S. Maritime Administration outlining the terms and conditions for the use of funds to start construction of the Nueces River Rail Yard.     On June 21, 2012, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to the port for phase I construction of the) rail yard. When complete the rail yard will include an ...

Friday, April 05, 2013

Patrick    Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said the state's House Transportation Bill, which would provide $300 million for local road and bridge projects, “doesn’t provide enough funding to actually do that work,” adding he won’t support the bill as it currently stands.    In the speech Thursday before the Massachusetts state house, Patrick added the current bill is a tax on the middle class and doesn’t properly address the state’s infrastructure issues, problem...

Friday, April 05, 2013

   Poor roadways cost Nevada residents $2.1 billion annually due to congestion, additional vehicle operating costs and lost time, but fixing the state’s infrastructure will cost $2 billion, according to a report released by the research firm TRIP.    The Nevada Department of Transportation has put the cost of infrastructure improvements at $3.4 billion by 2025 under current funding models.    TRIP found more than half of the state’s major roads are in poor or mediocre c...

Friday, April 05, 2013

   The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has completed the 10-year, $370 million deepening of the Port of Los Angeles' main navigation channel and turning basins, enabling the nation's largest container port to receive a new generation of super-size vessels now being deployed.    Deepening the main channel from 45 feet to 53 feet "has been our single-most important infrastructure project," Port Director Geraldine Knatz said in a statement.    Under federal cost-sharing guid...

Thursday, April 04, 2013

   In its annual report, the European Shippers Council reiterated that the European government needs to safeguard the 32-billion-euro infrastructure allowance that’s part of the Connecting Europe Facility in the 2014-2020 budget.     ESC hopes the budget will be resolved soon and finalized this sometime this year.     The council stressed the importance of the government allocation, saying there’s a total need for 250 billion euros in transportation funds by ...

Thursday, April 04, 2013

   The City of Long Beach is appealing to the Los Angeles City Council not to approve the Southern California International Gateway rail yard project recently forwarded by the Port of Los Angeles.    On Wednesday, the Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission formally went on record supporting the city's position, saying the Port of Los Angeles had not done enough to mitigate the impact of noise and diesel emissions from trucks serving the proposed BNSF Railway facility on the residen...

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

   The $50 million in additional port deepening funds proposed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has been approved by the state legislature and now awaits the governor’s signature.    Along with previous funding, Georgia has allocated $231.1 million toward the state’s portion of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP).    Deepening the Savannah Harbor from 42 to 47 feet will accommodate an increase in the number of super-sized container vessels transiting the Panama Canal af...

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

   Maryland has become the latest state to pass an aggressive transportation bill to raise money for roads, bridges and transit infrastructure which have been underfunded in relation to maintenance needs and rising traffic volume.     On Friday, the state Senate voted to increase the state's gas tax by up to 20 cents by mid-2016 to raise an estimated $4.4 billion over six years. Motorists are expected to get a 4-cent per gallon tax increase by July.    Th...

Tuesday, April 02, 2013

Scott    Florida Gov. Rick Scott chided President Obama for advancing a proposal for $21 billion in transportation infrastructure investments during a visit to the Port of Miami on Friday while not providing necessary federal funding for port facilities in the state.    At the Port of Miami, Obama urged Congress to pass an infrastructure package that includes the creation of an infrastructure bank with $10 billion in start-up funds, $7 billion worth of tax reforms related to pub...

Monday, April 01, 2013

Graham    Sen. Lindsey Graham said he's working on national port legislation that would create a “merit-based” system for funding port infrastructure.    “This bill changes the way we deepen ports and it sets aside money to make sure there will be money there available to us,” he said.    Speaking last month at a meeting of the South Carolina Ports Authority board, Graham described plans to create a $20 billion fund that would include $9 billion for deepening East Coas...

Monday, April 01, 2013

Obama    President Barack Obama made the case for federal investment in transportation infrastructure during a visit to the Port of Miami Friday, where he observed the construction of a $900 million, privately financed port access tunnel that bypasses downtown streets to carry truck traffic between the port and nearby interstate highways.     The president used the event to tout his job-creation policies as he wrestles with Congress about how to bring down the federal ...

Friday, March 29, 2013

   The Port of Long Beach on Tuesday broke ground on a major track realignment to remove a railroad bottleneck and development of a rail support yard to help eliminate many truck deliveries on local streets and improve cargo flow.    The $84 million project, one of four rail projects collectively dubbed the "Green Port Gateway," was funded in part by a $17 million TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $...

Thursday, March 28, 2013

   Government and maritime industry leaders in Southern California, in a meeting with U.S. Maritime Administrator David Matsuda, made the case Tuesday for expanding the use of a federal trust fund beyond its traditional purpose of funding maintenance dredging of navigation channels to include other types of projects that improve the efficiency of ports, Rep. Janice Hahn, who organized the roundtable discussion in Los Angeles, told American Shipper .    Matsuda, who was in to...

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

   An Obama administration proposal to cap benefits enjoyed by buyers of tax-exempt bonds as part of a broader deficit-reduction strategy could harm the ability of U.S. port authorities to finance new infrastructure projects, experts say.    Tax-exempt bonds are a traditional way for municipalities and states to pay for public works projects and spread the cost over time. Issuers like bonds because they generally have a low interest rate and buyers benefit by not having to p...

Monday, March 25, 2013

   U.S. and Canadian administrators last week opened the St. Lawrence Seaway for its 55th navigation season after a winter of extensive maintenance and upgrades.    Canada Steamship Lines' new Baie St. Paul , the first of a series of new fuel-efficient vessels specifically constructed for use in the Seaway, was the first vessel to enter the waterway at a Canadian lock in Montreal.    In addition to normal repair work during the winter, Seaway system operators completed the ...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   The Port of Jacksonville said Hanjin Shipping has decided not to go ahead with plans to build a new container terminal at Dames Point on the St. Johns River.    However, the Northeast Florida port said as a result of announcements in the past week the number of liner companies offering services to and from Jacksonville and Asia will jump from nine to 15 as the G6 and CKYH Alliances adjust their services.    Roy Schleicher, interim chief executive officer a...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday approved a 50-year development agreement and lease for BNSF Railway to construct, operate and maintain an intermodal container transfer facility on port property in nearby Wilmington that proponents say would improve cargo handling efficiency.    Currently, import containers that don't move inland from the dock as a block on unit trains are trucked 24 miles downtown to the City of Commerce to BNSF's Hobart Yard. The near-dock inter...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   The Port of New Orleans said its board of commissioners has given notice to AECOM Technical Services to begin the design of the port’s new Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal Project.    The port received a $16.7 million federal transportation grant last year for improvements to the Napoleon Avenue Intermodal Terminal. The project site is an existing 12-acre railyard that serves the adjacent container terminal. The new rail yard will be re-configured and modernized into an effic...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty released his 2013 budget yesterday, calling for more than $47 billion in new infrastructure spending in the next decade.    In a speech announcing the budget, Flahrety said the program, his update to 2007's Building Canada plan, will be "the largest and longest federal investment in building roads, bridges and public transit in Canadian history."    In addition, the budget sets aside money to strengthen the nation's border crossings ...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono broke ground Thursday on the nation’s largest port development, a project designed to allow Indonesia to accommodate the world’s largest containerships by 2018.    The Kalibaru Project, or New Priok, includes an initial investment of $2.5 billion by the country’s largest port operator, IPC, at the port of Tanjung Priok. The investment is part of a national plan to increase trade by strengthening connectivity between key ports in east and...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   A consortium of APM Terminals, Bolloré Africa Logistics and the French industrial conglomerate Bouygues has been named the preferred bidder to manage a second container terminal at the Port of Abidjan in Ivory Coast.    The $590 million project would be covered by a 21-year concession. The new terminal is slated to have a depth of 16 meters to accommodate vessels of up to 8,000 TEUs and offer 1,100 meters of berth and 35 hectares of yard space, as Abidjan seeks a greater role as a ...

Friday, March 22, 2013

   A fact-finding mission this week to Panama by representatives of the Terrebonne Parish Economic Development Authority (TEDA) and the Port of Terrebonne in Louisiana has port officials considering the prospects of exporting liquefied natural gas.    “In the process, we identified a huge opportunity in the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG),” said TEDA Chief Executive Officer Steve Vassallo in statement. “U.S. shale gas exportation to Latin America has led to the conversion o...

Thursday, March 21, 2013

   It’s been nearly five months since the Army Corps of Engineers officially received details for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, which will expand and deepen the Port of Savannah and the Savannah River, and officials are now waiting on funding to complete the project.    Gov. Nathan Deal asked the state legislature in January to add $50 million in funding for the project, bringing the state's current contribution to $231 million of an anticipated $261 million, and now officia...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

   DP World said it had a profit of $749 million in 2012, 10 percent more than in 2011, and that revenue, at $3.1 billion, was up 5 percent.    EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) was $1.4 billion, up 8 percent.    The company said higher revenue was “driven by strong growth in the Middle East, Europe and Africa region representing our ability to improve revenue from both our container and non-container operations even with the tougher o...

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

   Rep. Janice Hahn, founder of the PORTS Caucus on Capitol Hill, said Tuesday she will re-introduce port security legislation this week, sponsor new legislation to ensure continued funding for key port security programs and offer a resolution to honor the contributions of ports to the nation's economy.    Those types of efforts and the creation of the PORTS Caucus to educate members of Congress about the importance of ports to U.S. national and economic security led the American...