Garcetti Taps APL’s Seroka to Replace Knatz as L.A. Port Chief

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti nominated American Presidents Line executive Gene Seroka to be the next executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, the mayor’s office announced May 27.

Seroka runs  commercial operations in the Americas region for APL, a subsidiary of Singapore-based ocean carrier Neptune Orient Lines. His nomination must be approved by the L.A. City Council.

If approved, Seroka will run the day-to-day operations of North America’s busiest container port and will report to the city’s Board of Harbor Commissioners.

Geraldine Knatz ran the port from 2006 until her retirement in November. Her interim replacement has been Gary Moore, the city engineer.

The Port of Los Angeles is adjacent to the Port of Long Beach, the continent’s second-largest container facility, which has also been looking for a new leader.

Last June, Chris Lytle departed as executive director in Long Beach to take charge of the Port of Oakland. Al Moro has been running operations on an acting basis in Long Beach since then.

Seroka has worked for APL and NOL since 1998.

Los Angeles’ 7,500-acre port handled 7.9 million 20-foot-equivalent units of containerized freight in 2013.