Posted on November 9, 2021
The Virginia Port Authority’s investments at Norfolk International Terminal and Virginia International Gateway paid off this year: The port avoided the congestion problems that clogged global supply chains, executive director Stephen A. Edwards said.
“While other terminal facilities struggled with severe congestion, Virginia leveraged best-in-class turn times and ever-improving vessel productivity to absorb the overflow,” he wrote in the state authority’s financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30.
Those investments included the largest one-time order for automated stacking cranes in industry history — 86 in total, with 26 delivered to VIG and 60 delivered to NIT.
The port handled more than 1.8 million containers, equivalent to a record 3.2 million TEUs, the standard measure for this kind of cargo.
Its operating income — the difference between what it was paid for its terminal services and the cost of running them — rose fivefold, to $119 million, as revenue increased by nearly 25% to just under $639 million.
During the year, the Port of Virginia became the only port on the East Coast called on by the new Caribbean Express Service connecting three European ports with the Caribbean islands.
The authority calculated that port-related business and activity accounted for more than 397,000 jobs, or nearly one of 10 people working in Virginia.
In fiscal year 2021, port connections led businesses to invest $1.5 billion, which should generate more than 4,300 more jobs, the authority said.
