Reports From Hurricane-Damaged Shipping Ports Begin Trickling In
Initial reports of damage to Gulf Coast ports began spreading through the industry, with the major playerthe Port of New Orleanssuffering major damage to transit berths and wharves, but apparently with terminals and at least two out of four container cranes intact. Gary LaGrange, president and chief operating officer for the Port of New Orleans, summarized damage there in an e-mail that quickly circulated through the port industry. "Our wharves appear to be, for the most part, intact and able to conduct cargo operations," he wrote after surveying the damage Aug. 30. Several wharfs sustained moderate to heavy damage to transit shed doors, roofs and skylights. The Napoleon Container Terminal, a $101-million one-year-old terminal that can handle 366,000 shipping containers a day, appeared to escape major structural damage. Grange reported that about 100 stacked containers had "pancaked" in the yard, but that most were probably empty.
LaGrange wrote: "Issues concerning cargo operations would be procuring labor to work the vessels (a lot of the labor most likely incurred heavy damage to their homes or evacuated out of town), distribution of cargoes due to highway connectors being damaged."