Container vessel fabricator ends contract with Plaquemines port

Photo courtesy American Patriot Holdings

After almost six years working exclusively with the Plaquemines Port Harbor & Terminal District to develop a new intermodal container terminal on the Lower Mississippi River near West Pointe à la Hache, La., and deploy a fleet of inland container vessels to connect that port to Midwest markets, American Patriot Holdings (APH) has canceled its exclusivity agreement, reports the Waterways Journal.

APH is now moving ahead with Phase 1 plans to build the first four of its inland container vessels and has begun negotiating with an “existing terminal” that could serve as the initial southernmost hub for moving containerized cargoes between the Gulf Coast and Memphis, Tenn. Phase 2 would bring additional vessels on line, with service extending upriver to other ports in the Midwest.

News of the canceled exclusivity agreement broke during a recent meeting of the PPHTD board of commissioners. Read the entire story.