Port of Seattle Leaders Reflect on State of the Port

Port of Seattle
Port of Seattle
Image via Port of Seattle.

In a recent annual State of the Port address that was held virtually due to the pandemic, Port of Seattle leaders reflected on this year’s efforts to restore operations in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and plans to move forward on significant infrastructure projects.

“I am pleased to report that the state of the port is strong thanks to clear direction, clarity of our mission, strong efforts by our resilient staff, and the effective partnerships with the community and industry,” said port Executive Director Steve Metruck. “Looking back, we can confidently say that this year we made progress in restoring our operations and leading the region to recovery, and we have the right team and partners in place to continue economic recovery in 2022.”

The port highlighted various wins, including its ability to safely bring back cruising in 2021 with 83 sailings and nearly 20% of its pre-COVID cruise passenger volume; receiving its largest shipping cranes to Terminal 5 as it prepares for the first phase of its terminal modernization plans; and ongoing efforts to reduce pollution from port-related operations.

“Last year, aware of the great uncertainty before us, we laid out our strategy to create broad-based economic opportunities by building, maintaining, and operating our gateways, in order to sustain the region’s economic base and create the jobs of the future,” Port Commission President Fred Felleman said.

“This was not just our vision which we are committed to carrying into the future,” he added. “It’s a strategy and commitment shared by all our partners who kept working through the pandemic, in difficult conditions, to keep our gateways safely operating and to keep construction workers and related businesses on the job.”

By Karen Robes Meeks