The Port of Oakland received a $15 million TIGER grant from the Department of Transportation to help fund the Outer Harbor Intermodal Terminal (OHIT) Rail Access project, it said. The money will help pay to improve rail access to and from the Port and expand the Port's rail capacity, while providing rail access for the proposed Oakland Army Base development. Port officials said the grant also will help preserve $242 million in state funding for the project. The $15 million is from the fourth round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program (FY2012). There was $500 million available in this round of the TIGER grants nationwide. This is the second TIGER grant secured by the Port of Oakland. The federal funding will be matched more than one-to-one to launch the first phase of the Outer Harbor Intermodal Terminal (OHIT) Rail Access project, which is part of the joint City-Port OAB redevelopment plan, officials said.

Hewlett Packard's Autonomy said Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) of South Africa selected its Connected Backup intelligent mobile backup solution to protect information across the group. Connected Backup will enable intelligent, automated and secure backup for more than 1,800 laptops and desktops across all eight of its port sites, it said.

U.S. seaports and their private-sector partners plan to invest $46 billion over the next five years in capital improvements to their marine operations and other port properties, said a recent survey initiated by the American Association of Port Authorities. Meanwhile, it said the intermodal links such as roads, bridges, tunnels and federal navigation channels to access the ports get scant attention by state and federal agencies, resulting in traffic bottlenecks. AAPA said it continues to advocate for a national freight infrastructure strategy and for the U.S. Congress to quickly pass a reauthorized multi-year transportation bill that targets federal dollars toward economically strategic freight transportation infrastructure of national and regional significance. Planned capital investments by ports for the 2012-2016 period, by region, include: North Atlantic, $3.3 billion. South Atlantic, $4.3 billion. Gulf, $22.1 billion. Great Lakes, $360 million. North Pacific, $7.7 billion.

The South Carolina Ports Authority board approved what it called the most aggressive investment plan in the agency's 70-year history June 18, it said. It said the plan is based on the anticipated growth of South Carolina's ports from big ship traffic, the expansion of the Panama Canal and increased exports from the region. The board approved a budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1, that includes $146.9 million in capital spending on major investments such as the construction of the new Navy Base Terminal and upgrades to facility infrastructure and information systems. The budget anticipates an eight percent increase in container volume and a six percent planned increase in breakbulk and non-containerized cargo at South Carolina's public seaports. It calls for the addition of nine jobs in the operations and maintenance areas during the next 12 months. May's container volume of 132,498 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) was a nearly 10 percent gain over the same month last year, the board was told. In the 2012 fiscal year to date (from July 2011 to May 2012), TEU volume in the Port of Charleston was up 3.4 percent from the previous year while pier tons of non-containerized cargo in Charleston and Georgetown climbed 43.1 percent. The SCPA board also approved a $2 million paving and container yard improvement project for North Charleston Terminal, to be completed by Banks Construction Co. It also approved a resolution authorizing the SCPA, as Grantee, to apply to reorganize Foreign-Trade Zone (FTZ) No. 21 under an alternative site framework. This reorganization would increase the FTZ service area along the coast and broaden the benefits to both new and existing companies using the program. The SCPA serves as Grantee of the FTZ program for FTZ No. 21 along the South Carolina coast and FTZ No. 38 in the Upstate.

The American Association of Port Authorities will recognize 22 seaports for exemplary communications projects and programs at its annual convention Oct. 21-25 in Mobile, Ala., it said. The list is (here).

Supermaritime of the Netherlands plans to build a breakbulk terminal in the Scaldiahaven in Vlissingen, it said, creating increased capacity for handling general and project cargo or the Zeeland ports. The new terminal is to become operational in the autumn on a 9-hectare site in the Scaldiahaven. Supermaritime will gain access to 375 metres of quay, suitable for ships with a draught of up to 14 metres, it said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, and the Port of Los Angeles completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) for the Berths 302-306 American Presidents Line (APL) Container Terminal Project, they said in a Federal Register notice. They gave the 30-day Notice of Availability for the Final EIS/EIR for the project, which will conclude on July 16, 2012.

The Port of Virginia handled 12.6% more cargo in May than a year ago, growing to 178,584 TEUs. The breakbulk tonnage total was 25,161, up 59 percent over last May, it said. Total rail containers handled in May were 33,221, up 21.6%.

The West Coast MTO Agreement (WCMTOA) announced a 2.5 percent increase in the Traffic Mitigation Fee (TMF) at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, effective Aug. 1, in order to address labor cost increases scheduled to take effect July 1. The TMF will be increased by $1.50 per TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit) to $61.50 per twenty-foot container or $123 per forty-foot container. The fee helps pay for the night and Saturday marine terminal shifts created by the PierPass OffPeak program to relieve daytime congestion in and around the ports, the ports said, and provides a financial incentive to move cargo during less congested times.

Jacobs Engineering Group said that it received a contract from the Port of Houston Authority for engineering services for the rehabilitation of Wharves 1 and 2 at the Barbours Cut Terminal in Morgans Point, Texas. The project is to allow the wharves to accommodate larger ship-to-shore cranes. Officials estimate construction to cost in excess of $50 million, with a design contract value of $4.9 million. Construction is expected to be complete by fall 2014.