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Spies in the sky?
High-level federal concerns over Chinese-made ship-to-shore cranes ramped up in February after President Joe Biden issued an executive order addressing cybersecurity and espionage risks the cranes pose at U.S. ports. Then in early March, a congressional investigation revealed cellular modems had been found on some Chinese crane [...]
Prime for development
In the past year, Amazon.com continued its march across the commonwealth, announcing plans to build a 650,000-square-foot fulfillment center and a 219,000-square-foot delivery station in Virginia Beach, which are collectively expected to produce more than 1,000 jobs. About 60% the size of the Pentagon, Virginia’s second la[...]
Crisis in Baltimore
Since the March 26 container ship collision that collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, ships previously bound for the Port of Baltimore have been diverted to other ports, including the Port of Virginia. The Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali hit the Key Bridge at about 1:30 a.m. March 26 after issuing a mayda[...]
Deep dive
The Port of Virginia has set the stage to offer the widest and deepest harbor on the East Coast by 2025, with the recent widening of Thimble Shoal Channel West allowing for two-way traffic for all vessels, including ultra-large container vessels (ULCVs). Completed in March, the shipping channel is now as much as 1,400 feet [&hel[...]
Making headway
With recent expansions nearly complete, and a new Southwest Virginia port under consideration, it’s been a busy year for the commonwealth’s inland ports. The industrial market from Hampton Roads to Richmond has expanded in terms of industrial space available, says Devon Anders, president of the Harrisonburg-based Int[...]
Letter from the Publisher
In the wake of the tragic collapse of Baltimore‘s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Port of Virginia stepped up to offer its support and immediately began taking on any cargo needing to be redirected our way. Apparently caused by a power outage aboard the container ship that collided with the Key Bridge, the accident shut [&he[...]
Port of Virginia
The Port of Virginia’s economic impact rose significantly in fiscal 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, moving up from $100.1 billion in output sales in 2021 to $124.1 billion, according to a report prepared by William & Mary’s Raymond A. Mason School of Business for the Virginia Port Authorit[...]
Fed’s Fifth District economy grows slightly
The economy in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District (a multistate region including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland) grew slightly in recent weeks, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released April 17. Published eight times per year, the Beige Boo[...]
Australian maritime co. to start sub/shipbuilding school in Hampton Roads
An Australian maritime company announced Tuesday it will set up a submarine and shipbuilding training institution in Norfolk for the short term and will seek a permanent home in Newport News. Quality Maritime Surveyors (QMS), based in the suburbs of Adelaide, Australia, is one of the pioneering companies to take the plunge into [...]
Port of Va. is already handling cargo diverted from Baltimore
On Tuesday afternoon, workers at the Port of Virginia’s Virginia International Gateway facility in Portsmouth unloaded cargo that had been scheduled for the Baltimore Harbor before a container ship struck and destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in a fatal accident that has left the shipping channel closed for at least s[...]
Baltimore bridge collapse will drive ships to Port of Va.
After a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday, causing the bridge to collapse and possibly claiming multiple lives, ships bound for the Port of Baltimore will be diverted to other ports, primarily the Port of Virginia and the Port of New York and New Jersey. The Virginia Port Authority, [&[...]
Fed’s Fifth District economy stays the course
Economic activity in the Federal Reserve’s Fifth District was little changed in recent weeks, according to the latest edition of the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released March 6. Published eight times per year, the Beige Book is based on anecdotal information about economic conditions gathered from the nation̵[...]
