Seven Seaports & Six Port Executives To Be Honored In AAPA's 2009 Awards Program

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), a trade group representing leading seaports throughout the Western Hemisphere, will present six executives with a special seaport manager designation and seven ports with awards for exemplary achievements in environmental improvement, facilities engineering and information technology at its annual awards program luncheon on Oct. 28. The awards program is part of AAPA's 98th Annual Convention (http://www.aapa2009.com/) in Galveston, Texas, which runs Oct. 25-29.

During the Oct. 28 event, AAPA Chairman of the Board Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D. (who is also executive director of the Port of Los Angeles) and AAPA President Kurt Nagle will present recognition awards to representatives of:

-- the Massachusetts Port Authority, winner of this year's Comprehensive Environmental Management award for the port's Massport Sustainable Design Standards and Guidelines, which features a certification program comprising a set of standards and guidelines required to be used by all of the port's planners, architects and engineers in developing non-structural projects, such as marine terminals;

-- the Port of Vancouver (Wash.) USA, earning an honorable mention in the Comprehensive Environmental Management category for its Tenant Environmental Management Program, which sets parameters for pre-screening tenants and their environmental needs, periodically auditing tenants' environmental protection practices, rewarding tenants for environmental performance and sharing best practices among tenants;

-- the Alabama State Port Authority, winner of AAPA's 2009 Environmental Mitigation award for its Choctaw Point Terminals Mitigation Project, which went beyond U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mitigation requirements for constructing its Choctaw Point terminals complex by incorporating a public park with access to Mobile Bay, together with hiking and biking trails, kayak launch sites and picnic facilities;

-- the South Carolina State Ports Authority, winner of this year's Stakeholder Awareness, Education and Involvement award, for its The Port's Pledge for Growth program, which features a website providing detailed information about the port's environmental initiatives related to reducing diesel emissions, providing aerial surveys for endangered right whales, restoring tidal marsh and preserving environmentally sensitive lands;

-- the Port of Hueneme/Oxnard (Calif.) Harbor district, co-winner of the 7th Annual Facilities Engineering Awards competition for its dredged materials sediment management strategy that culminated in creating an on-site Confined Aquatic Disposal facility for contaminated materials that requires minimal transportation costs, no tipping fees and no need for sediment rehandling;

-- the Canaveral Port Authority, also co-winner of the 7th Annual Facilities Engineering Awards competition, for its entry, South Jetty Disposition Basin Entrance Channel Sediment Trap, that features construction of a sediment trap south of the federally-authorized Canaveral Harbor entrance navigation channel that intercepts shoaling sand during hurricanes which would otherwise limit vessel access to the port and cause other significant economic impacts; and,

-- the Port of Miami, winner of the 2009 Information Technology Awards competition for its entry, Integrated Cargo Gate Vehicle Processing System. To increase efficiency of processing cargo trucks in each lane of its marine terminal security gate, the port's security, operations and finance divisions worked with the Miami-Dade Police Department, U.S. Customs, and technology solutions provider SAIC to design the most advanced cargo gate system in the U.S. The result is an integrated system that screens all vehicles and persons entering the port's restricted area, using proximity readers, magnetic-stripe and optical character recognition readers, biometrics, card-imagers, cameras and microphones. Among other new and planned innovations, the Port of Miami's gate system also validates insurance coverage, state registration and port permits, and interfaces with the port's account and tariff control systems to retrieve current balance and apply debits for scale-weight based on the tariff table.

In addition to port authority recognitions, six Western Hemisphere port executives will receive their Professional Port Manager (PPM®) designation during the awards luncheon, making them the latest to complete certification requirements under the association's 14-year-old PPM® program. AAPA established its PPM® program in 1995 to encourage, promote and recognize professional standards in public port management.

Joseph Cappel, senior seaport manager of business development at the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, and Rodney W. Oliver, deputy executive director of administration and chief financial officer of the Virginia Port Authority, will be joined as PPM® recipients by four officials of Muelles el Bosque Port Operators of Cartagena, Colombia - Oscar Maldonado, Alejandro Oliveros, Hugo Rincón and Guillermo Torres.

For additional details on the winners in AAPA's 2009 awards programs, click on http://www.aapa-ports.org/Programs/content.cfm?ItemNumber=691&navItemNu…

About AAPA

Founded in 1912, AAPA today represents 160 of the leading seaport authorities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean and more than 300 sustaining and associate members, firms and individuals with an interest in seaports. As a critical link for access to the global marketplace, each year, Western Hemisphere seaports generate trillions of dollars of economic activity, support the employment of millions of people and, in 2008, imported and exported more than 7.8 billion tons of cargo, valued at $8.6 trillion, including food, clothing, medicine, fuel and building materials, as well as consumer electronics and toys. The volume of cargo shipped by water is expected to dramatically increase by 2020 and the number of passengers traveling through our seaports will continue to grow. To meet these demands, the AAPA and its members are committed to keeping seaports navigable, secure and sustainable.