Port of New Orleans Sets Sights on HIIs Avondale Yard

Port of New Orleans The US Port of New Orleans is considering the purchase of an abandoned shipbuilding yard Avondale, the port confirmed, which might result in converting the yard into a terminal. The facility was put up for sale in August 2015, after US shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries and Kinder Morgan abandoned their plans to redevelop HIIs Avondale shipyard in Louisiana in April 2015. The abandoned yard features 8,000 linear feet of deep water access, 206 acres and 16 major buildings. The port is doing an engineering and feasibility study on the sites capabilities which has the potential to be converted into a breakbulk terminal, according to the Port Director Gary Lagrange, cited by WWWL. The study is expected to be completed in the coming few weeks when the port might voice its final decision on the likely use of the terminal. However, the sites containership potential has been ruled out. In 2015, the Port of New Orleans surpassed the half-million mark for twenty-footequivalent units handled in a 12-month period for the first time. The companys data found the port handled 537,285 TEUs, a 13.6 percent increase over the same period one-year ago with breakbulk cargo data through May 2015, illustrating a more than 15 percent growth in breakbulk tons, led by an 18.7 percent increase in imported steel. World Maritime News Staff