The Port of New Orleans secures final permit for Louisiana International Terminal, set to transform Gulf Coast shipping by 2028.
The Port of New Orleans, one of the nation's most strategically positioned maritime gateways with direct connections to six Class I railroads and the inland waterway network, has cleared the final regulatory hurdle for its most ambitious expansion to date.
On August 17, 2026, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the federal permit authorizing construction of the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT), a $1.8 billion deepwater container port to be built near Violet in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. This decision moves the project from years of environmental review into active construction and reshapes the outlook for cargo owners who depend on Gulf Coast access.
The permit, issued under reference number MVN-2021-00270-EG, follows a review process that began when Port NOLA filed its application in December 2021. Over the following years, the Corps issued public notices in 2022 and December 2024, held a public hearing in May 2025, and completed studies assessing the project's impact on both the natural and human environments. The approval requires permits under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, and Section 408 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, reflecting the terminal's footprint across the Mississippi River, the river levee, and adjacent wetlands.
LIT is developed through a public-private partnership comprising Port NOLA, Terminal Investment Limited (TiL, the terminal operating arm of MSC), and Ports America. Targeted to open in 2028, the facility is engineered to handle vessels with 50-foot drafts and extended dimensions—ships that currently cannot pass upriver to the existing Port of New Orleans facilities beneath the Crescent City Connection bridge.
For cargo owners, the significance is direct and measurable. At present, the largest container ships cannot reach Louisiana ports, forcing shippers toward alternative gateways and adding cost and complexity to Gulf-bound supply chains.
"Right now, the largest container ships can't get to Louisiana or to the Port of New Orleans," said Port NOLA President and CEO Beth Branch at a community meeting in May 2025. "This terminal changes that."
Once completed, the deepwater facility is designed to improve container and barge supply chains for 32 states that connect to the Mississippi River through rail, navigable tributaries, or direct river access. That reach positions LIT as an inland-connected gateway rather than a purely regional terminal—an advantage for shippers managing multimodal networks across the central United States.
Capacity will scale over time. Port NOLA projects the terminal will handle between 180,000 and 280,000 containers in its first year of operation, growing to a maximum annual capacity of 1.2 million containers over a period of as many as 25 years. For high-volume shippers under long-term contracts, that trajectory signals expanding options for reliable, cost-controlled routing through the Gulf.