New Orleans Container Capacity Expansion Dedicated

Major improvements at the Port of New Orleans' Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal were dedicated May 11. The improvements, including new gantry cranes and an additional 4.5 acres of marshalling area, represent a $36.4 million investment. The state funded $30 million of the total project investment. The terminal is operated by Ports America and New Orleans Terminal, which is a joint venture between shipping line Mediterranean Shipping Co., or MSC, and terminal operator Ceres Gulf Inc. Major ocean carriers -- including MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA-CGM, Seaboard Marine, Maersk, CSAV and Zim -- use the terminal. The expansion gives the Port of New Orleans the the capacity to handle about 640,000 TEUs, or twenty-foot equivalency units, per year, up from 594,000 TEUs per year. The Port of New Orleans has an expansion footprint at the Napoleon Avenue container Terminal that will support more than 1.2 million containers per year with continued investment.