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U.S. NEWSThursday 3 March 2016
American Living:
Louisiana envisions port to lure mega-ships
CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A few
Louisiana businessmen and
politicians are dreaming
big — as big as the mega-
ships of the future that may
grow so large they won’t
be able to make it into the
Mississippi River and up to
the Port of New Orleans.
They envision those super-
sized ships unloading and
loading goods 100 miles
downriver where the Mis-
sissippi meets the Gulf of
Mexico — where today
there’s only open water —
an idea that some experts
and competitors find far-
fetched.
That hasn’t stopped the
dreamers, who see an op-
portunity with the opening
of an expanded Panama
Canal later this year that
will allow even bigger ships
to move goods around
the world. At this offshore
port, “there will never be
a restriction regardless of
the size of ships,” said A.G.
Crowe, a former Repub-
lican state senator and
president of a state author-
ity involved in the port’s de- $9 billion in dredging work
velopment.
In August, the port’s back-
ers said they had $25 million
in private financing to build
the first terminal to handle
bulk goods such as grains
and coal. The group is ap-
plying for permits.
But the dream is much big-
ger. Backers envision $10
billion worth of terminals
to handle everything from
oil to cargo containers.
And Louisiana’s govern-
ment has set aside about
2,000 acres of open water
for the development of this
Louisiana International Gulf
Transfer Terminal.
This port, its boosters ar-
gue, will ensure Louisiana
remains a port of call in
an era of ever bigger ships
Forget blenders: Wedding invites
now seeking cash for honeymoon

JOSEPH PISANI
and create precious jobs built about 2 miles east of Associated Press
in a state troubled by high where ships currently en- NEW YORK (AP) — Before they say “I do,” soon-to-
poverty and fiscal woes. ter the Mississippi channel. be newlyweds are increasingly going online to ask,
The idea is sort of obvious: At the port, the megaships “Will you pay for our honeymoon?”
If ships can’t get into port, would have their goods un- Crowdfunding websites such as Honeyfund, Go-
then the port should come loaded onto smaller “feed- FundMe and Honeymoon Wishes make it easy to
to them. er ships,” which would span raise cash from family and friends for a post-wed-
Container ships have out to other Gulf Coast ding getaway. The sites charge fees for their servic-
gone from carrying about ports and up the Mississippi es — as much as 10 percent of the total collected
5,000 containers in 2000 to River valley. — but people are warming up to the idea, despite
10,000 containers today, Skeptics abound. the cost.
and some carry as many Jean-Paul Rodrigue, a As couples increasingly live together first and mar-
ry later, they already have toasters and towels, so
This photo shows ships and cargo containers along the Missis- traditional gift registries don’t make as much sense.
sippi River in this aerial view, between Baton Rouge and New Or- Honeymoon registries also provide a polite way of
leans. A few Louisiana businessmen and politicians are dream- hinting to guests to give money instead, without
ing big, as big as the mega-ships of the future that may grow so breaking wedding etiquette.
large they won’t be able to make into the Mississippi River and “I didn’t feel right saying, ‘Hey, give me cash,’” says
up to the Port of New Orleans. Nicole DePinto, who raised $2,900 on GoFundMe for
an Icelandic honeymoon with her husband Antho-
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip, Pool) ny in December.
Sites that help couples raise cash for honeymoons
as 20,000. Ports around the maritime transportation ex- have seen their popularity soar recently. Honeyfund
nation are looking at deep- pert with Hofstra University, users, for example, raised $90 million last year, a 50
ening harbors for the big- said an offshore terminal percent jump from the year before, says co-founder
ger ships. for bulk goods might work, and CEO Sara Margulis.
The federal government is but he doubted it could Last year, 22 percent of people using the Knot, a
studying how to deepen handle containers. He said wedding planning site, said they also used honey-
the Mississippi’s channel by the biggest ships will head moon registries, according to a survey of 6,500 cus-
5 feet, down to 50 feet, at to population centers — to tomers. That’s the same as the year before, but up
an estimated cost of $300 New York City and Los An- from 17 percent in 2013 and 13 percent in 2012.
million. The river’s channel geles. The DePintos even crowdsourced the destination
is choked where it enters Deep-water offshore ports of their honeymoon, asking the 100 guests at their
the Gulf. are “technically feasible,” travel-themed October wedding reception to vote
Nationwide, an estimated he said. But he doubted this on Greece, Iceland or Japan. The save-the-dates
one would attract enough came on postcards and the party favors were lug-
is needed to handle the large vessels to be com- gage tags.
bigger ships, said Kurt J. mercially viable. “We did everything outside of the box,” she said.
Nagle, president and CEO And there’s competition. They loved the natural beauty of the icy island in
of the American Associa- “We don’t think there’s any winter, and besides: “They’re all places we wanted
tion of Port Authorities. An- need for it,” said Gary La- to go eventually.”
other $29 billion needs to Grange, the CEO and pres- Most guests gave the couple cash-stuffed enve-
be spent on other infra- ident of the Port of New Or- lopes at the wedding, but the 14 donations they got
structure improvements at leans. online covered their hotel and airline tickets, even
the nation’s ports, such as Since 2003, that port has after GoFundMe kept more than $230 in fees. The
larger cranes, he said. spent about $500 million to Union City, New Jersey, couple also had a registry
To bypass these problems, develop its container ca- at Target, but asked for just a few things there since
the offshore port would be pacity, he said. they had lived together for three years.
“In that time we’ve acquired tons of pots, plates,
towels, throw pillows and bedding,” they explained
on their GoFundMe page.
Asking for cash in the invitation is a wedding faux
pas, says Kristen Maxwell Cooper, deputy editor at
The Knot. But passing around a link to a honeymoon
registry works, because couples can explain to
guests exactly where the money will be spent, she
says.