The COVID-19 pandemic took a lot out of everyone this year, no matter what country you’re from or where you operate your business. However, the silver lining would be the resiliency we as an industry and as a collective global citizenry obtained. Port Freeport is more resilient, our tenants and port workers are more resilient, as is the entire world. We were able to come together to overcome local and international obstacles to keep commerce moving and push the economy along while still maintaining health and safety protocols. That resiliency will prove critical in 2021, and the new skills we’ve learned as a result of the pandemic can be honed and carried into the years beyond.
Despite the pandemic, 2020 was all about growth for Port Freeport. Our past three years of marketing, construction, and major plant and carrier expansions have blossomed into dramatic growth. We have had more sailings this year than ever before, and our ro-ro cargo, along with LPG and LNG exports, has grown tremendously. Operations are running at full tilt, and the brisk activity in and around Port Freeport is evidence that global economies are recovering. We are expanding our Velasco Container Terminal with a new berth and backlands, have added new ro-ro marshaling facilities, and have started what will be our greatest improvement, the deepening and partial widening of the Freeport Harbor Channel.
Our biggest challenge as an industry in 2021 will be the ever-present uncertainty and unpredictability of what may happen next. It will force us to deal with what is right in front of us each day, and we will have to be cognizant of the challenge that limited attention brings while ensuring our focus remains on sustainable future growth and development.