AAPA’S Sang Yi urges greater US port infrastructure investments

Sang Yi, the new President and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) says the United States needs to embark on larger investments in infrastructure for US ports.

Yi praised President Trump, who has requested $500 million for the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) in his Fiscal Year 2027 budget request. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development’s FY27 bill similarly allocated $538 million, he said.

PIDP

In an interview with AJOT on July 24th, Yi noted that PIDP was first funded in 2019 and has always received bipartisan support. PIDP is the only federal program available exclusively for freight infrastructure at ports.

AAPA has argued that: “Since 2019, Congress’ annual appropriations for PIDP have declined by 64%. Advanced appropriations from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) boosted PIDP’s funding for the last five years, but with the expiration of that law, funding is set to dramatically drop. If Congress continues FY26’s appropriations into FY27, PIDP will see its lowest funding level ever.”

Yi said that as “Deputy Maritime Administrator, I saw firsthand how PIDP supports national security and economic vitality. To restore America’s maritime dominance, our ports must be equipped with the financial resources needed to not just survive but thrive. That starts with funding PIDP at $538 million in FY27.”

Yi told AJOT: “First of all, if you look at competitors … like China, they invest over $2 billion a year in ports all over the world outside of China. And when you come back, and we're talking about half a billion dollars for our ports in the United States, that doesn't sound like a lot. This is a woefully underfunded program. It is an amazingly important program, and we need to keep it going, and we need to increase it, but it is clearly underfunded. So, what's happening in the future right now is a little bit of a question mark.”

Ship-To-Shore-Cranes

A major investment priority needs to be in ship-to-shore cranes at ports: “We talk about the security for cranes and our ports do a great job ensuring that the cybersecurity risks are mitigated. But we also talk a lot with the White House on domestic crane manufacturing and what it takes to do that. Obviously, we can't just get rid of cranes from certain countries overnight because there is no domestic capacity right now. But those are the types of things we're working on. And we have some of the great crane manufacturers who are members at AAPA as well, working closely with them. And we're trying to figure out how PIDP and those types of dollars can also support that. But again, the pie needs to grow, and we've been doing a lot of advocacy on the Hill for FY27 and beyond. And to talk about why the PIDP program is so important and why we need more investment in our ports.”

More Dredging Funds

According to the National Association of Counties, on July 14th, the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee favorably reported the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (WRDA; H.R. 9497) by a bipartisan 66-0 vote. The bill now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives: “The WRDA legislation supports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by authorizing water resources studies and projects and sets policies for navigation, flood control, hydropower, recreation, water supply and emergency management for the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). WRDA 2026 authorizes 131 new feasibility studies and 10 new construction projects.”

Yi said there is a continued need to maintain ship channels and make sure they are dredged to accommodate the largest vessels arriving at US ports: “During my time as Deputy Maritime Administrator as well, I saw why dredging at ports is so important. We talk about wanting to build these ports for the future. If we don't have the channels that are deep and wide enough to handle the ships of the future, then forget about it. We're going to be further behind, and trade is going to stop. It is going to slow down because we don't have the right infrastructure. So that is a major point.”

He also expressed confidence that the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) will provide funding for port dredging: “I know that the WRDA bill in the House is looking really good. We got three of our priorities that we really wanted to push into the House bill, and very optimistic about getting it passed. And so, we're continuing to work on that with the Senate as well.”

Dredging Windows

Yi is also looking at the restrictions on the dredging season placed by so-called ‘dredge windows.’

It is recognized that sediment dredging is necessary to sustain navigation infrastructure in ports and harbor areas. In the United States alone, between 250 and 300 million cubic yards of sediment are dredged annually: “Dredging activities may cause stress on aquatic biota by locally increasing turbidity and suspended sediment concentrations, physically disturbing habitat by elevated sedimentation rates, interfering in migratory behaviors, and hydraulically entraining bottom-dwelling organisms. Environmental windows are a management practice used to alleviate such stresses on resident and transient biota by placing temporal restrictions on the conduct of dredging operations. Adherence to environmental windows can significantly inflate costs for project sponsors and local stakeholders,” according to a 2008 scientific paper “A risk-informed decision framework for setting environmental windows for dredging projects.”

Yi said, “We're also trying to figure out how AAPA can help on dredging windows and how our voice can be more highlighted there. We have the industry know-how, we have the industry experience, and it's our job in that sense to tell the government what we need.”

Drone Dangers

Yi said that as the use of drones as offensive weapons has grown, evidenced by the Ukraine War, so needs to regulate their presence at ports: “You have cruise ships now that can carry 5,000, 10,000 people … we've all seen videos of what drones can do. Now look at the war in Ukraine. These drones are causing insane amounts of damage for this tiny little $10,000 drone … When some of our ports experience a high rate of drones- maybe some of them are hobbyists, but others we're not so sure. It should concern all of us as Americans … if you think about the potential loss of life, that is catastrophic. And I'll say, in addition to the loss of life potential there, if that happened at a port, it could stop commerce at our maritime ports ... So, this is a very serious issue. We need early detection. We need to make sure that we can clear that space. We need to make sure the ports are equipped with the ability to mitigate that risk. And that's why we take this very seriously.”

AAPA 2026 CONVENTION

Yi said the AAPA convention will feature a number of significant topics: “It will be September 28th through 30th in New Orleans and it's so far sizing up to be perhaps one of the largest annual conventions we've ever had at AAPA. We have a jam-packed agenda. We have some incredible senior government officials and corporate leaders and maritime industry leaders coming.”

Small Modular Nuclear Reactors at Ports

One interesting topic that will be discussed at the AAPA convention is the pilot project between the Port of Long Beach and the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) on the deployment of small modular reactors at ports. Sang Yi helped develop the partnership while he was still at MARAD: “I was privileged enough to be invited to a memorandum of cooperation signing ceremony at the Maritime Administration. It's a pretty historic signing, and I was very proud because I was still the Deputy Maritime Administrator when I went out to visit the Port of Long Beach. And it's amazing what happens when you just have people with open minds and enthusiasm be in a room together.”

The Port of Long Beach became the first port in the nation to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation with the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) on July 22, 2026, to “advance work on development of small modular reactor (SMR) technology to power commercial vessels, ports and other maritime assets … This first-of-its-kind partnership with MARAD allows us to leverage strong federal leadership and private sector innovation to catalyze SMR technology as we safely and securely support the next generation of shipping,” according to Port of Long Beach CEO Dr. Noel Hacegaba.

“Under President Trump’s and (Transportation) Secretary Duffy’s leadership, MARAD is taking decisive action to revitalize US shipbuilding and secure our national energy dominance,” said Maritime Administrator Stephen Carmel. “This milestone agreement with the Port of Long Beach brings cutting-edge Small Modular Reactor technology into active testing. It ensures our maritime supply chains stay operational under any contingency while training the next generation of high-skilled American mariners.”