IN THE KNOW Podcast 15: Port of Seattle & NWSA on COVID-19 Strategy

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges for seaports, which are seeing almost all lines of business affected. Container cargo volumes to and from East Asia are down; demand for refined petroleum is falling; cruise ships are tied up at piers around the world; and fishermen are facing a rapidly declining market.

For this edition, editor in chief Tony Munoz brought together Commissioner Peter Steinbrueck, the president of the Port of Seattle Commission, and John Wolfe, the CEO of the Northwest Seaport Alliance, to talk about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the Puget Sound region's port operations. As a thriving hub for the cruise, fishing and ocean freight industries, the Port of Seattle and the Northwest Seaport Alliance have a view into multiple aspects of the coronavirus pandemic's effects on shipping and ports. For more, listen in on their conversation below.

Peter Steinbrueck (left) is the president of the Port of Seattle Commission. He is a former three-term Seattle city council member, a Harvard University Loeb Fellow, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a community planner. Steinbrueck is also the head of sustainable urban policy consulting group Steinbrueck Urban Strategies. 

John Wolfe (right) is chief executive officer of The Northwest Seaport Alliance, the marine cargo operating partnership of the ports of Tacoma and Seattle. Wolfe previously served as the CEO of the Port of Tacoma and in leadership roles at the Port of Olympia and at Maersk Sealand/APM Terminals' Tacoma facility. He serves on the board of the American Association of Port Authorities, the Federal Maritime Commission’s Export Innovation Team and the Maritime Innovation Advisory Council for the Department of Commerce.