U.S. Labor secretary visits APMT terminal at Port of LA

Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta toured the 484-acre terminal and met with leadership from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association during the visit.    In his first official visit to an American seaport since being confirmed as a member of the Trump Cabinet in April, U.S. Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta on Aug. 23 paid a visit to APM Terminals’ (APMT) facility at the Port of Los Angeles’ Pier 400.
   Acosta toured the 484-acre terminal during the visit, and met with leadership from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA).
   PMA CEO Jim McKenna and ILWU Vice President Ray Familathe addressed the group following welcoming remarks by APM Terminals Pier 400 Managing Director Steven Trombley and POLA Executive Director Gene Seroka.
   “We are proud to welcome Secretary Acosta to Pier 400, which is continuing to lead the Port of Los Angeles in the innovation and infrastructure required for the newest generations of Ultra-Large Container Ships linking the U.S. and Asia,” Trombley said in his remarks.
   APM Terminals Pier 400, which opened in 2002, is the largest single private container terminal in the world. The 65-acre on-dock rail facility, including intermodal yard and storage tracks, and five miles of working track can accommodate four double stack trains simultaneously.
   Container throughput at the terminal stood at 2.64 million TEUs in 2016, according to APMT. The Port of LA as a whole handled 8.8 million TEUs last year, according to port data.
   In May 2016, a contract was signed to raise the height of 10 ship-to-shore cranes by 33 feet, which at completion will be the largest terminal cranes in use in the Western Hemisphere. In December 2015, the APM Terminals Pier 400 terminal hosted the largest container ship ever to call a North American port, the 18,000-TEU CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin.