Port of South Louisiana future looks great

There could be an expanded future in store for the Port of South Louisiana in the River Parishes.

At the present time, Panama is enlarging the Panama Canal to permit more and larger ships to traverse it. And much of this increased business will flow toward the shores of Louisiana and up the Mississippi River where our port is located.

Already, the port owns five first-rate facilities, ranging from grain elevators to general cargo facilities. It serves as landlord of these, which are leased to operating companies such as Occidental Chemical and Archer Daniels Midland. The Globalplex Intermodal Terminal, which was purchased by the port in 1992, is being redeveloped into a world-class complex to accommodate a variety of dry bulk and breakbulk cargo.

The Port of South Louisiana, which stretches 54 miles along the Mississippi River, is the largest tonnage port district in the western hemisphere. The facilities within St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. James parishes handled over 246 million short tons of cargo in 2010, brought to its terminals by vessels and barges.

Aims of the port commission are to serve maritime transportation needs of resident industry, to assist in the development of maritime transportation needs, to encourage foreign and domestic investment in the River Parishes region and Louisiana and to attract foreign and domestic cargo to the area.

The future of this port in our River Parishes seems bright indeed with the work being done to enlarge the Panama Canal which is a main entryway to the Mississippi River.

It should definitely expand the economy of our area.