Ports Briefs: New POLB Managing Directors and POLA and Port of Guangzhou Partner on Tech, Shipping

Port of Long Beach Names Two Managing Directors

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved the appointments of managing directors for the Port of Long Beach’s Commercial Services and Strategic Advocacy bureaus.

Casey Hehr, the port’s security division director, will take up the leadership role for the commercial services bureau, comprising the business development, tenant services, information management and security divisions.

In a newly created position, Eleanor Torres, the port’s government relations director, will head the Strategic Advocacy Bureau – the government relations and communications and community relations divisions. The organizational change will bring together the functions and activities of government advocacy, communications with the public and workforce development.

“The goods movement industry is in an era of dynamic change as seaports around the world find more efficient ways to move cargo, more closely engage with communities we serve and reduce operational impacts on the environment,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “Casey and Eleanor understand the importance of these goals to the Port of Long Beach and the collaboration between internal and external stakeholders that’s needed for us to accomplish our organizational objectives.”

Hehr joined the Port of Long Beach in October 2016 as assistant director of the security services division. He was named director in August 2018. Prior to his position at the port, Hehr served with the U.S. Coast Guard for more than 20 years, retiring as the chief of operations and response for the Los Angeles-Long Beach Sector. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and a master’s degree in Business Administration at the Boston College Carroll School of Management.

Both Hehr and Torres will report to Chief Operating Officer Dr. Noel Hacegaba.

Torres has been the port’s government relations division director since December 2019. Before then, she worked for 12 years at the Orange County Water District, where she was director of public affairs. Prior to the water district, she spent 10 years working for the California Legislature, including serving as district director for then-Assembly Majority Leader Dario Frommer. Torres earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Smith College in Massachusetts.

Ports of Los Angeles and Guangzhou to Partner on Digital Technology and Green Shipping Corridor

SAN PEDRO — Officials with the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Guangzhou, China, Oct 24 signed a Memorandum of Understanding or MOU to further their relationship and cooperation. Areas of collaboration include development of digital supply chain infrastructure, creation of a Trans-pacific Green Shipping Corridor between the two ports, and other sustainability initiatives to reduce port-related emissions and greenhouse gases. 

The MOU represents continued cooperation between the ports of Los Angeles and Guangzhou, a relationship that dates back nearly four decades when the two ports signed their first “Friendship Port” agreement in 1984.

Today’s three-year MOU calls for best practice consultations and exchanging of ideas on supply chain efficiency and digital technology, and the sharing of lessons learned from the Port Optimizer™, the digital community system developed by the Port of Los Angeles and in use since 2017.

The two ports also agreed to begin work to establish a Green Shipping Corridor, an initiative focused on reducing emissions along their respective trade routes and promoting low- and zero-carbon ships and fuels. The Port of Los Angeles has already established Green Shipping Corridor partnerships with the Port of Singapore, Port of Shanghai and the Japanese ports of Nagoya, Yokohama and Tokyo.

Other environmental initiatives in the agreement include cooperation on testing and deployment of zero-emission vehicles, cargo handling equipment and vessels and exploration of energy use and alternative energy sources, among other items.