Bridges takes helm at Virginia Port Authority

Bridges takes helm at Virginia Port Authority Jerry Bridges, former executive director at the Port of Oakland, assumed the executive director position at Virginia Port Authority on Monday.
   Bridges, 53, replaces J. Robert Bray who retired in December after 29 years of leading the VPA. Bray will serve as the VPA executive director emeritus for the next year.
   Bridges served as the head of the Port of Oakland for two years.
   The 12-member VPA board of commissioners approved Bridges appointment on director Nov. 28.
   The authority owns three Hampton Roads marine terminals and is the seventh-largest container port in the country.
   Among the challenges facing Bridges will be the start up of a large new privately owned container facility being built by A.P. Moller-Maersk affiliate APM Terminals in Portsmouth. Also pending is a plan by Virginia International Terminals, the operator of VPA’s terminals, to get into the stevedoring business. The proposed VIT venture would compete with stevedores like CP&O LLC and Ceres Marine Terminals Inc.