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Midshipmen gain experience at The Port

MIDSHIPMEN GAIN EXPERIENCE

AT THE PORT

Internship teaches inner workings on inland port

SHREVEPORT, La. - Two midshipmen from the US Merchant Marine Academy are sharpening their skills at The Port of Shreveport-Bossier this month. The students are completing a two week long internship to enhance their curriculum.

"The US Merchant Marine Academy is one of the nation's foremost training grounds for waterway commerce worldwide," said Eric England, executive director for The Port. "We are privileged to be able to contribute to the education of these two midshipmen."

The midshipmen, both 21-years-old and from Texas, have experience on ocean ships and hope to gain experience at a river port. Their schedule includes attending marketing and operations meetings, learning about prospective projects, port expansion, daily operations, finance, safety, and about coordination between state and federal agencies. In the afternoons they plan to observe port operations and meet port tenants, observing their operations.

"There are hundreds of rail cars that come through The Port each month-in addition to freight from barges and trucks," says Hugh McConnell, director of operation at The Port. "This will be a valuable experience for these students to learn first-hand how we coordinate and keep track of the inventory."

The midshipmen gain a variety of work experience on different types of carriers throughout their time at the USMMA, located in Kings Point, New York, near New York City. So far in their time at the USMMA, each cadet has logged more than 300 days aboard various vessels. The academy, which is operated by the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation, was dedicated by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1943. Its college level, four-year program is fully accredited. More than 21,700 academy graduates have served the maritime industry and the Armed Forces both at sea and ashore.

The 2,000-acre Port of Shreveport-Bossier is located at the head of navigation on the Red River Waterway in Northwest Louisiana. An inland multi-modal transportation and distribution center, The Port works hand in hand with the port system of Louisiana to successfully link customers throughout the Ark-La-Tex region to domestic and international markets via the Mississippi River, the nation's largest river system, and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

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Submitted by: Emi FitzGerald/ Gremillion & Pou and Associates, Inc. / 318.424.2676 x319 / efitzgerald@gpmarketinginc.com

Released by: Marilyn Haley, Public Affairs Manager / The Port of Shreveport-Bossier/ 318.524.2272 /

mhaley@portsb.com