The Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA) 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 U.S. with connectivity to the nation’s heartland, according to the company's release.
Container-on-barge moves containers by water rather than by truck on roads to reduce air emissions; moving an average of 30,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per year between New Orleans, the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, Memphis and St. Louis.
The service reduced more than 1.3 million kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and saved more than 130,000 gallons of diesel fuel in calendar year 2023. Since 2016, the accumulated (CO2) emissions reduction is more than 10.4. million kg.
Like the Uptown Napoleon Container Terminal, Port NOLA’s downriver container terminal, the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT), will also be equipped to provide container-on-barge services. LIT will allow the container-on-barge to expand with a dedicated berth space designed for this service.
LIT, currently in the design and permitting phase, will also incorporate the latest green technologies. That includes shore power, allowing vessels to plug in at the dock, eliminating the need to run diesel engines. This can cut local vessel emissions by up to 98%. Operators also plan to invest in an electrified equipment fleet, further reducing local emissions impacts.
Earlier this year, Port NOLA announced that it has been awarded an additional $226,220,195 in federal grant dollars to assist in building the Louisiana International Terminal which will create thousands of jobs, drive the economy and position Louisiana as the premier international Gulf gateway.
In addition to the $226 million INFRA Grant, the U.S. DOT recently awarded Port NOLA $73.77 million through its MEGA Grant program, totaling $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. LIT has also garnered support from more than a dozen ports in six states as well as major trade and agriculture associations throughout the heartland of America.
New Jersey-based Ports America, one of North America’s largest marine terminal operators, and Geneva, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Company, through its terminal development and investment arm Terminal Investment Limited (TiL), have also committed $800 million toward the project.
Construction is slated to begin in 2025 and the first berth to open in 2028.