The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) has marked 20,500 container moves by barge during calendar year 2023, the highest since starting the service in 2016 with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge and Ingram Marine Group.
The partnership represents the largest container-on-barge network in the US with connectivity to the nation’s heartland.
Container-on-barge moves containers by water rather than by truck on roads to reduce air emissions, moving an average of 30,000 TEU per year between New Orleans, the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Memphis, and St. Louis.
The service reduced more than 1.3 million kilogrammes (kg) of CO2 emissions and saved more than 130,000 gallons of diesel fuel in the calendar year 2023. Since 2016, the accumulated emissions reduction has been more than 10.4 million kg.
Similar to the Uptown Napoleon Container Terminal, Port NOLA’s Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) will offer container-on-barge services. LIT, currently in design and permitting, will incorporate green technologies like shore power, cutting vessel emissions by up to 98 per cent, and an electrified equipment fleet to reduce local emissions.
Port NOLA received $226 million in federal grants to build LIT. The funding, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT)’s INFRA programme, supports Biden administration priorities for infrastructure redevelopment.
In addition to the $226 million INFRA Grant, USDOT recently awarded Port NOLA $73.77 million through its MEGA Grant programme, totalling $300 million in federal grant dollars to support the first construction phase of the $1.8 billion container terminal. The recent federal awards are in addition to significant private industry partner commitments as well as the State of Louisiana, and Port NOLA.
New Jersey-based Ports America, through its terminal development and investment arm Terminal Investment Limited (TiL), has also committed $800 million toward the project.
READ: Lawsuit filed to stop Port NOLA’s multi-billion container terminal
“We are proud to partner with the Port of New Orleans and Ingram Marine Group to continue to offer innovative and sustainable maritime solutions,” said Port of Greater Baton Rouge Executive Director Jay Hardman, P.E.
“These record-breaking numbers for our container-on-barge service are a direct result of our collective effort to create a stronger and more resilient supply chain.”
Earlier this year, the Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) Board of Commissioners (The Board) passed two resolutions to expedite the St. Bernard Transportation Corridor.
