Ports of Indiana-Burns Harbor, the Lake Michigan port at Portage, Indiana, has been awarded $11.2 million in federal funding to modernise its cargo handling, including the specialised equipment needed to support future international container service, Ports of Indiana announced on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The money comes through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) Port Infrastructure Development Program, known as PIDP, and is one award inside a $498 million national package, announced the same day by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, covering 35 port projects across 19 states.

Source: Ports of Indiana

$11.2 millionFederal PIDP grant to Burns Harbor
$14 millionTotal project cost, including the port's match
$2.8 millionMatching funds from Ports of Indiana
$498 millionNational PIDP package — 35 projects, 19 states

What the money buys at Burns Harbor

The project — formally, the Burns Harbor Container Handling Modernization Project — will fund a mobile harbour crane, bulk-handling attachments, reach stackers, a top handler, off-road yard trucks and more, according to the port's announcement. The equipment is deliberately flexible. The mobile harbour crane can switch between bulk grabs, breakbulk lifting gear and container spreaders, so the same machine can handle steel, bulk materials, construction materials and project cargo today, and containers alongside them when future traffic arrives. Ports of Indiana said the equipment will also strengthen the port's existing operations and put existing docks and terminal space to work.

What officials said

"Indiana is the Crossroads of America, and our ports are a big part of what makes that true," said Governor Mike Braun. "This investment helps Burns Harbor move more goods faster and gives Hoosier farmers and manufacturers a more direct path to customers around the world." Ports of Indiana Chief Financial Officer Erica Jackson called the award "a smart investment in Indiana's port infrastructure," adding: "Paired with our own funding, it puts existing docks and terminal space to work and creates new revenue to support the port long term. We are grateful to our congressional partners, Secretary Duffy and MARAD for their partnership."

Indiana's congressional delegation backed the award across party lines. U.S. Senator Todd Young said Indiana's Great Lakes location gives the state "a unique advantage in moving goods," and that securing federal investment to expand Burns Harbor's shipping capabilities had been a priority of his for years. U.S. Senator Jim Banks called Burns Harbor "the beating heart of Indiana's economy" and described the award as "a major grant to support the port's Container Handling project." Congressman Frank Mrvan congratulated the port and linked the funding to economic development and job creation in Northwest Indiana and its manufacturing workforce.

Background: the national program behind the grant

PIDP was authorised by Congress in 2010 and is administered by MARAD to modernise America's ports and strengthen supply chains, with the stated aim of reducing time and costs for shippers; the United States has more than 300 ports operated by states, counties, municipalities and private companies, which compete for the annual grants. The Maritime Executive, reporting the October 27 awards, noted that this year's $498 million is the lowest PIDP funding level in five years and the final advanced-appropriations tranche from the $2.25 billion for ports included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed on November 15, 2021 — context that makes each award more competitive than in the program's peak years. The largest single grant this year went to Whittier, Alaska, at more than $50.5 million to replace its DeLong Dock; other major awards included $40 million for Jacksonville's Blount Island terminal and $30.75 million for Port Everglades in Florida, with Burns Harbor's $11.2 million listed among the equipment-focused awards, according to Splash 247's summary of the MARAD list.

Why a Lake Michigan port matters to truckers and farmers

Burns Harbor sits at the junction of lake shipping, rail and the interstate network in Northwest Indiana, a corridor Punjabi truckers know from I-80/I-94 and I-65 runs. Every container or steel load that moves through the port still begins and ends its journey on a truck, and state officials framed the grant explicitly around Hoosier farmers and manufacturers getting a more direct path to world customers — the same supply chains that generate freight for carriers across the Midwest.

What happens next

Ports of Indiana did not give an equipment delivery or construction timetable in its October 27 announcement, and the grant is structured as a $14 million project in which the port itself supplies $2.8 million. The stated sequence is procurement of the crane and yard equipment, stronger existing bulk and breakbulk operations first, and container capability ready to be used "when market demand arises," in the port's words — meaning Burns Harbor is buying the ability to launch international container service rather than announcing a start date for one. Nationally, the Maritime Executive reported that the American Association of Port Authorities is calling for new appropriations now that the infrastructure law's advanced PIDP funding is exhausted, so the size of next year's competition — and whether ports like Burns Harbor can return for a second phase — will be decided in Congress.