Lytle Named Head of Port of Long Beach

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners Monday voted unanimously to name J. Christopher Lytle as executive director.

Lytle, who had been serving as deputy executive director and chief operating officer, replaces Richard Steinke. Steinke had served as executive director for the past 14 years. Earlier this year he announced that he would retire in the fall, and the harbor commission launched a nationwide search for his replacement.

The harbor commission last week voted to recommend Lytle to be the new executive director.  Monday’s action followed the customary one-week waiting period before a final vote was taken to confirm his appointment.

A number of maritime industry representatives were present at the meeting to register their support, including Calif. State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, who over the years has sponsored legislation to reduce port congestion and pollution.

Lytle, a shipping industry veteran who held executive positions primarily on the operations side of the business, takes over as Long Beach moves forward on a 10-year, $4 billion capital expansion program.

Port growth in Southern California had been stymied for much of the past decade due to environmental challenges, but Long Beach and neighboring Los Angeles in 2006 approved a joint Clean Air Action Plan to reduce harbor pollution by 45 percent.

The CAAP is now guiding port development, and a number of environmental impact reports have been approved since then. Long Beach is now moving forward on several key projects. The release of additional environmental impact reports is anticipated in the coming year.

Lytle served previously as vice president of CMA CGM and also held executive positions at P&O Ports North America, Sea-Land Service Inc. and APM (Maersk) Terminals. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Puget Sound and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Central Washington University.

-- Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @billmongelluzzo.