By George Lauriat, AJOT In early February the MV Beluga SkySails called the Port of Albany to pick up a load of power generating equipment manufactured by General Electric (GE) in nearby Schenectady, New York. It was a significant call in a number of respects. In the first instance, any business during the recession is good business and secondly, Beluga Shipping is arguably the best-known player in the project market. Beluga has a fleet of seventy specialized vessels, including the innovative “SkySails” which act like a kite to assist powering the vessels. The Port of Albany lies 125 nautical miles up the Hudson River, north of the mega Port of New York/New Jersey and 225 miles south of the Port of Montreal. It’s a tough place to put a port, but what keeps the Port of Albany in business is the fact that it is something of a jack-of-all trades. The port handles grain (Cargill), pipe for a natural gas pipeline, steel, wind turbine parts, rock salt and virtually all manners of heavy lift/project cargo, especially power generating equipment for GE. Another attribute the port is blessed with is storage space, and that’s hard to come by in other northeast ports. The port has bulk storage, open storage, storage areas for scrap and salt as well as a grain elevator and transit sheds. As with other ports in the Northeast, the recession has had an impact on the port’s tonnage. But the main thrust for Richard “Rich” Henrich, the Port’s General Manager, is to get the Port of Albany ready for the next round of growth. And that process starts with the replacement of the nearly 1000-foot main dock. Originally the plan was to replace the entire 1,000 feet as one project. The bids for the project were deemed too high, and the project was broken into two phases. The price tag for Phase 1 is about $7.6 million for the first five hundred feet of the 90- year old dock. The Port is now securing a Federal Stimulus Grant for $6.125 million needed for Phase 2 of the Dock Reconstruction Project along with approvals of the Economic Recovery Projects Municipal/Sponsor Resolution. Another point of business for the Port is that the lease on Liebherr Crane that provides the heavy lift capability will be paid off during 2011. Because of the crane’s age, one option for the Port is to enter into an annual service contract for use of the crane. The Port of Albany is expecting that business will pick up in 2010 as grain shipments and project work begin to flow with improvements in the economy. In the meantime, improving the facilities is key to preparing the Port for the future.