Port of Gulfport shares plans of expansion with local and national leaders

Local and national officials were invited to the Port of Gulfport to see how it operates.

The Port of Gulfport is the third largest port on the Gulf of Mexico. The port handles exports and imports, has private research labs and more on its ground.

With other shipping points around the world under stress, Gulfport may see a boom in business.

“The supply chain has been under stress since the pandemic, and I think people are looking for options,” Carl Bentzel, U.S. Federal Maritime Commissioner, said. “Those options will be away from these larger port complexes that have a lot of issues handling new cargo, towards places like Gulfport which can handle the additional capacity and do things for business operations.”

The Port of Gulfport wants to expand in the future by widening and deepening the port, as well as adding a two-mile-long train that can import and export goods. As you can imagine, local and national support is vital to accomplishing this goal – and they seem to have it.

Port CEO and Executive Director Jon Nas said, “So much of what we do involves the federal government and having representation like the congressmen in congress as well as our two senators it is really how we accomplish the goals that all of us share, which is jobs and economic development on the Gulf coast.”

Congressman Mike Ezell was one person able to tour the port.

He wants to show that Mississippi has strong ports and is a leader in the blue economy.

“It’s going to show them that opportunity is here, and Mississippi is open for business,” Congressman Ezell said. “They know the importance of good ports, they know the importance of good people, the good workers that we have here that we provide for them. And we can do things here in Mississippi that so many other folks can’t do around the country.”