Intermodal Briefs: Port of LA, Trigon

“The good news is that global trade is now edging up and we are looking forward to a return to more normal cargo volume levels in the year ahead,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka said during his Jan. 10 “State of the Port” address.

Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka outlines plans for 2024 in his “State of the Port” address. Also, Trigon Pacific Terminals Ltd. (Trigon) initiates the regulatory review process for its planned Canadian LPG export project.

Port of LA

The Port of Los Angeles in the year ahead will focus on community investment, environmental leadership, workforce development and improving infrastructure to handle additional cargo, Executive Director Gene Seroka said during his Jan. 10 “State of the Port” address (watch above).

Seroka reported that in 2023—and for the 24th consecutive year—the Port ranked as the nation’s No. 1 container port. While final data is expected next week, the Port processed more than 8.6 million container units in 2023. This is a 13% decline from last year, according to Seroka, but he noted that the Port experienced a “strong rebound” over the past five months and an uptick in market share. (The Port processed 763,262 TEUs in November 2023, a 19% improvement compared with 2022.)

“The good news is that global trade is now edging up and we are looking forward to a return to more normal cargo volume levels in the year ahead,” Seroka said.

The Port also saw 219 cruises set sail in 2023 with a record 1.3 million passengers. According to Seroka, the Port plans to issue a Request for Proposals in the coming months for building a new outer harbor cruise and conference center.

Following are highlights of the Port’s initiatives for 2024 and beyond:

10-Year Infrastructure Capital Improvement Program:

• Completion is expected this year on the Port’s $73 million Pier 400 Corridor Expansion.
• Work will continue on roadway, rail and site design for the $195 million Terminal Island Maritime Support Facility.
• Final design is expected for the $52 million on-dock rail yard expansion at the Pier 300 Fenix Marine Services terminal, which is slated to break ground in 2025.
• Seismic upgrades will take place at the Shell Oil and PBF Energy liquid bulk facilities at the Port.

Environment:

• The Port in the coming year will accelerate its green hydrogen plans, bolstered by the announcement last fall of up to $300 million in federal grants funding for development of “hydrogen hub” operations in the San Pedro Bay port complex, according to Seroka. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach plan to match the funding with up to $300 million in combined investments. The Port of Los Angeles is slated to use that funding to deploy “dozens of hydrogen-powered cargo-handling equipment” for construction of the necessary hydrogen-fueling terminal infrastructure. Additionally, plans are now under way to add more zero-emission Class 8 over-the-road trucks to the ports, where 195 are already in operation, according to Seroka, who said this will be accomplished, in part, by offering incentives under the Port’s Clean Truck Fund Rate program, which has collected more than $115 million to date to help facilitate a changeover to cleaner trucks serving the port complex.
• The Port in 2024 is slated to “further its commitment” to creating Green Shipping Corridors that focus on reducing carbon emissions along key international shipping routes through use of zero-emission trucks and terminal equipment, and gradually cleaner vessels fuels. It noted that five of the major ocean carriers that call on the San Pedro Bay ports will be testing lower-carbon fuels in the coming years as part of these various corridor programs. To date, the Port has established Green Shipping Corridor partnerships with eight ports in China, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam. “We have to focus on solutions that benefit both our regional and our global community,” said Seroka, referring to the value of the Port’s Green Shipping Corridor initiatives.

Workforce Development:

• Design will be well under way this year on the Goods Movement Training Campus, a jobs and training initiative of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Pacific Maritime Association and the state of California, according to Seroka.

Community:

• The $77 million Wilmington Waterfront Promenade grand opening will be held Feb. 3. “With the Banning’s Landing Community Center at one end and a future youth aquatic center at the other, this new public space will be an instant landmark,” Seroka said.
• Later this year, the Port will break ground on the $65 million Avalon Promenade and Gateway Project, which will connect the Wilmington community to its waterfront.
• Seroka said construction is progressing in San Pedro on the 42-acre West Harbor retail and dining development, with Phase 1 expected to open in 2025. “While the Port is completing the final phase of the San Pedro Waterfront Pedestrian Promenade, West Harbor is building 375,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor retail, entertainment and dining space––even a dog park that will offer craft beer and other refreshments,” Seroka said.
• AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles has broken ground on a 180,000-square foot buildout of its warehouse space at the Port’s historic City Dock No. 1, according to Seroka. The $28 million project—funded in part by the state and Port—is slated to transform AltaSea’s Center for Innovation into a “critical mass” of marine and blue-tech related research, education and technology enterprises.
• Among several transportation projects to ease truck and commuter traffic is the Port’s new Harbor Boulevard onramp and offramp upgrade between the Vincent Thomas Bridge and Harbor Freeway, which will break ground this year.

Trigon

Trigon on Jan. 10 reported completing the Project Description for its proposed Trigon Pacific LPG Project and submitting it to the Prince Rupert Port Authority in British Columbia—a move it described as a “critical step in securing the necessary project approvals.” Trigon is a multi-commodity bulk and liquefied gas export terminal at the CN-served Port of Prince Rupert and is owned by AMCI Group, Riverside Holdings and the Lax Kw’alaams Band and Metlakatla First Nation.

The project is slated to add 98,000 cubic meters of new LPG (liquid petroleum gas) storage capacity; leverage existing LPG vessel loading infrastructure; and add new rail unloading facilities to an existing rail yard to provide “complete unit train unloading,” said Trigon, which announced its project plans late last year and is in “advanced commercial negotiations” with potential customers.

Trigon said its Project Description “outlines key project attributes, including the compelling advantages of minimal environmental impact, low development costs, and the opportunity for needed diversification within the port and along the west coast of North America.”

“The Trigon LPG project is about opening up Canada’s northwestern export trade corridor, and providing jobs and economic opportunity for a region that is often left behind,” Trigon CEO Rob Booker said. “Without investments likes ours, opportunity will continue to migrate elsewhere, which is particularly concerning given the upcoming ban on thermal coal exports that make up such of big part of exports handled through Prince Rupert today.”

Trigon reported that it “continues to pursue legal action to enforce its lease rights to handle additional Canadian commodities and is continuing to advance project planning in light of its confidence that this action will be resolved in its favor.”

Subject to regulatory review and other approvals, Trigon said it anticipates being ready to start operations by late 2027.