The American Association of Port Authorities closed its annual convention in New Orleans on Wednesday after drawing its largest attendance ever — more than 900 participants representing over 90 ports — with federal officials signaling that maritime infrastructure projects must move faster, from dredging schedules to port power supplies.

One of the most closely watched sessions examined the Maritime Administration's push to explore small modular nuclear reactors as a power source for ports and future commercial vessels. The Port of Long Beach is working with MARAD and Bluecore Energy to study the technology as it prepares for sharply higher electricity demand.

Long Beach CEO Noel Hacegaba put the numbers in perspective. The port currently consumes roughly as much electricity as 79,000 homes. By 2050, that could rise to the equivalent of about 150,000 homes.

"We're tapping every source we can," Hacegaba told attendees.

The Port of Corpus Christi is pursuing a parallel effort with MARAD and CORE POWER, examining potential applications for floating nuclear power plants and future nuclear-powered commercial vessels. Both studies respond to a commercial reality shippers and terminal operators already face: terminal electrification, shore power and electrified cargo-handling equipment are driving power demand at the berth, and ports that cannot supply it will struggle to host the greenest — and often largest — vessels calling on U.S. trade lanes.

AAPA President and CEO Sang Yi opened the convention by highlighting the record turnout, which brought together port executives, federal officials and maritime industry leaders at a time when Washington is placing renewed emphasis on U.S. shipbuilding, port infrastructure and the maritime industrial base. Speakers included Maritime Administrator Capt. Stephen Carmel, Assistant Secretary for Trade and Economic Security Aris Kourkoumelis, and officials from across the Departments of Transportation and Commerce. The agenda ranged from federal infrastructure grants and workforce development to shipbuilding investment, nuclear power and dredging.

Speed was the other recurring theme. During a session on federal grants, Sydney Plante of MARAD's strategic engagement team summed up the urgency among federal officials: "We don't want to miss our chance."

Commerce Department official Andrew Farquharson pointed to planned foreign investment from South Korea and Japan, including capital aimed at U.S. maritime and manufacturing projects. He also highlighted workforce development and federal research funding targeting technologies such as artificial intelligence and automated welding for shipbuilding.

The push for faster delivery carried into the final day, when senior officials discussed overhauling how dredging projects are reviewed and scheduled. Lee Forsgren, Senior Official Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, said the Army Corps of Engineers is developing a new "national dredging framework" aimed at reducing delays and making better use of the U.S. dredging fleet.

"We want to build infrastructure, not paperwork," Forsgren said.

One significant change would shift agencies away from sequential reviews toward concurrent evaluations. "The days of linear evaluation are over," Forsgren said.

The stakes for ports are direct. Channels that cannot be deepened and widened on schedule limit which vessels a port can berth — and which cargo it can compete for. Forsgren noted that the apparent shortage of U.S. dredging capacity may partly reflect inefficiencies in project scheduling rather than a lack of equipment.

He pointed to situations in which a dredge might work in South Carolina, travel north for a project in Rhode Island, and then return south to Florida. Better regional coordination, he argued, could cut unnecessary vessel movements and make fuller use of available dredging capacity. The Army Corps is now studying whether dredging projects can be planned more effectively on a regional basis.

NOAA is part of that effort. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere Erik Noble said his agency is working more closely with the Army Corps under what officials described as a "whole of government" approach.

"We're picking up the phone and calling each other," Noble said.

Forsgren cited dredging ahead of July 4 Tall Ships events in New York as proof the model works. With only a narrow window to complete the work, NOAA delivered a required review within roughly 30 hours, allowing the project to proceed.

"That's the kind of cooperation we want," Forsgren said. "That's how this is supposed to work."

The Army Corps is also building a mapping tool for Waters of the United States, or WOTUS, designed to give project developers a clearer picture of federal jurisdiction around waterways. Forsgren said an initial version is expected in roughly 18 months, with later versions providing greater precision — a timeline that itself signals how much review friction officials hope to strip out of the system.

Taken together, the New Orleans sessions showed how broadly the U.S. maritime push now extends. Shipbuilding remains a major focus, but port officials are increasingly asked to consider the infrastructure surrounding the ships as well — deeper channels, greater electrical capacity, new energy sources, expanded industrial facilities and a workforce capable of supporting them. If federal officials agreed on anything at AAPA, it was that these projects should not take as long as they have in the past — a message that, if executed, could compress the timeline for channel deepening and power upgrades that ports need to keep competing for bigger vessels and bigger cargo volumes.