Port of Virginia Blog

VPA Board to Meet at 11 a.m. on Nov. 24

Norfolk – The Virginia Port Authority Board of Commissioners will meet in its regular session on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 11 a.m., in the board room of the VPA offices. The agenda and meeting materials can be viewed at the following Web address: http://www.portofvirginia.com/corporate/board-room.aspx.

CHROME Club Gets Lesson on Port, Bouyancy

 
Chesapeake – Jodie Love, the Virginia Port Authority's community relations coordinator, on Nov. 18 presented to the Western Branch Middle School CHROME Club, (Cooperating Hampton Roads Organization for Minorities in Engineering, Inc.). Her presentation included a brief interactive presentation on the port and Craney Island, followed by a question-and-answer session, some games and prizes and a science experiment based on the Archimedes principle of buoyancy. 

For the experiment the students separated into groups and were given modeling clay, marbles, a bucket of water and a five-inch diameter bowl. They were asked to put the mass of clay into the water, watch it sink and then measure the water displacement created by the mass of clay. They then shaped a vessel out of the clay to represent a cargo ship and placed it in a bucket of water to see that it floated, again measuring the water displacement.

The students then loaded the clay cargo ship with containers (marbles) to see how many it would hold before sinking. The students then "re-engineered" their vessels to see if they could come up with ideas to hold more containers and boy did they ever: The winning team was able to load 31 marbles into their vessel before it sank.

Virginia Now Last Call on MSC’s Golden Gate Service

Norfolk – Swiss carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) has added The Port of Virginia to the rotation of its Golden Gate service beginning January 2010, a move that is estimated to bring between 30,000 and 40,000 additional TEUs through the port annually.

Virginia will be the last-out and southern-most port of call on the revised Golden Gate service rotation giving The Port of Virginia an advantage in export transit times to the Middle and Far East. 

The revised rotation of the service includes direct calls at Singapore, Yantian, Chiwan, Ningbo, Shanghai, New York, Baltimore, Virginia, Jeddah and Colombo. Via transshipment in Jeddah, this new service will allow The Port of Virginia to reach key markets in the Red Sea and Middle East; Savannah was the dropped from the rotation.

"This change is directly tied to the opening of the Heartland Corridor in the summer of 2010," said Joe Dorto, general manager and chief executive officer of Virginia International Terminals Inc. "We see the potential for growth because with this service we will be able to compete directly with the Port of New York/New Jersey because of the transit times to key markets on the rail side."

New York Comes to Norfolk

 

Norfolk – Last week tugs pushed one of eight Staten Island, NY, ferries, up the Elizabeth River to Colonna's Shipyard where the vessel will spend roughly a month undergoing some routine maintenance.

 

Earlier this year Colonna’s won a five-year contract valued at more than $71.5 million to service six of the Staten Island ferries on a rotating basis. The ferries will visit the shipyard at least twice during the life of the contract.

 

The work includes hull scrubbing and painting, checking the sea valves that allow the cooling of the engines, a propulsion systems check and an overall structural inspection of the vessels.

 

This is the first time since 1905, when city ferry service began between Staten Island and lower Manhattan, that ferries in the fleet are being serviced by a shipyard outside of the New York area.

Knapp Completes 32 Years at VIT

Norfolk – After 32 years, Richard N. "Rick" Knapp retired from Virginia International Terminals, Inc. on Oct. 30, saying he had no regrets and "would not change one thing about the way my career unfolded." At the time of his retirement Knapp was VIT's chief operating officer, which is the company's No. 2 position.

Following a brief stint in the U.S. Air Force, Knapp began his career in the maritime industry in 1971 as an engineer for what was then Maritime Terminals Inc., a forerunner to the Norfolk Port & Industrial Authority and present-day VIT.

"I wanted to be a fighter pilot and when I took the vision test I found out I was color blind," Knapp said. "That was an immediate disqualifier; talk about a punch in the gut."

Knapp went on to serve in Vietnam and upon completion of service, came to Hampton Roads where he began looking for a career in the civilian ranks. He was prepared to move to Wisconsin to begin training for a job he had already accepted when he responded to a help-wanted ad in the local newspaper for marine engineer.

Since responding to that ad Knapp has been the recipient of the Society of Maritime Industries' Distinguished Service Award, the Hampton Roads Foreign Commerce Club's Commerce Builder Award and has secured two intellectual property patents that are tied to movement and safe handling of containerized cargo.

Moreover, he has served as chairman for a number of industry-related groups including the International Business Council, the Old Dominion University Maritime & Port Logistics Institute and the Hampton Roads Chassis Pool. His civic experience includes having been chairman of the board for United Way, St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children and Festevents.

"Rick is a good man, a good leader and a good friend; he will be missed," said Joe Dorto, VIT's general manager and chief executive officer.

 

 

 

Ruddy Named Chief Operating Officer at VIT

Norfolk – Joseph Ruddy has been named the chief operating officer for Virginia International Terminals, Inc. [VIT] and will replace Richard N. Knapp, who retired Oct. 30.

The appointment was announced on Nov. 4 by Joseph A. Dorto, VIT's general manager and chief executive officer. Prior to the appointment, Ruddy was VIT's director of operations and labor; he will take his new post on Dec. 1.

"He has an excellent relationship with the ILA and has been involved in labor and contract negotiations with VIT," Dorto said. "He is part of the team working on the lease-agreement negotiations with APMT – he has some very valuable experience and because of that the plan all along was to move him up through the ranks."

"His experience and respect within the industry make him a very good fit for the post and he is the man we wanted all along. I am very pleased with this transition."

Ruddy's experience is varied: he has spent time in operations, equipment control, maintenance and repair, shipline sales and labor relations. He has served as VIT's director of operations and labor for the last two years and before that he served four years as general manager of Virginia Intermodal Management, the parent company of the Hampton Roads Chassis Pool.

Ruddy earned a bachelor's degree from Virginia Wesleyan College and master's from Trenton State College. He is a resident of Virginia Beach.

VIT is the Virginia Port Authority's non-stock, non-profit terminal operating company. It operates four general cargo facilities on behalf of the state: Norfolk International Terminals, Portsmouth Marine Terminal, Newport News Marine Terminal and the Virginia Inland Port in Warren County.

Bridges Named to AAPA Delegation

Virginia Port Authority Executive Director Jerry A. Bridges has been appointed as an officer of the U.S. delegation of the American Association of Port Authorities for the 2009-2010 year. The announcement was made Oct. 29 at the AAPA's 98^th annual convention that was held this year in Galveston, Texas. The AAPA is a large port-trade organization that represents ports and port-related businesses in North, Central and South America.