By Mary Kennedy , DTN Basis Analyst

Mayors of towns and cities along the Mississippi River hosted several national organizations at a news teleconference on March 28, 2024, to offer insights on plans and options for keeping the U.S. supply chain open, the possible increases in shipping traffic and the related capacity requirements of the Mississippi River and the ports servicing the river.

"Our thoughts and support extend to our friends and colleagues in Baltimore, and we stand ready to assist as needed," said La Crosse, Wisconsin, Mayor Mitch Reynolds.

Reynolds, co-chair of the of the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative (MRCTI) added, "Since 2015, the Mayors of MRCTI have been steadily working with industry and federal partners to increase the capacity of Mississippi River port and intermodal infrastructure across the corridor, contributing to nearly $100 million in new investment into Mississippi River supply chain capacity."

"The question is how can we assist in receiving Baltimore diversions and can we intermodal that freight to the rest of the country efficiently? The Port of New Orleans is the Mississippi River's gateway port to the world, generating more than $100 million in revenue annually. Port NOLA is exceeding the 500,000 TEU threshold year after year six times in a row," said Belinda Constant, mayor of Gretna, Louisiana and MRCTI Louisiana State Chair.

Janine Mansour, head of key accounts at Port NOLA, said, "From the perspective of offering freight and vessel solutions to shippers that are using Baltimore, we recognize that neighboring East Coast ports are first ports of call and 18 vessels scheduled to Baltimore between the crisis and Tuesday were already diverted." She added that using the East Coast infrastructure will be the first and most logical option from a logistics standpoint.