Kalistani Major History

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Emperor orders Expansion of Port at Luxon
Ancient resort town to begin seeing commercial traffic within a Decade
Luxon, Ananto
August 18, 5251


Port at Luxon was once the commercial center of the Anantonese Ocean

The sleepy southern Ananto town of Luxon, home of the Global Music Hall of Fame, as well as ski resorts, beach boardwalk parks and natural areas, wasn't always so peaceful: It was once the commercial and monetary center of a vast trading empire that at once point controlled parts of modern day Gaduridos, Baltusia, Tukarali, Lodamon, Dolgava, and Sekowo. But in the last three thousand years, Luxon's reduced importance had redesignated it as a tertiary city in Ananto. It is now a haven of vacationing families, wealthy yacht owners and music historians.

But this will likely change within the next decade. Luxon's history as a commercial port on Ananto is soon to be picked back up again. His Imperial Majesty's government has begun drawing plans to expand the port facilities at the ancient city to include facilities that can handle modern cargo ships, as well as oil supertankers and naval vessels.

"In Ananto, we have Port Davon," said Trade Ministry spokeswoman Georgia Hanson, "which serves as a primary port for shipping goods into and out of Ananto. However, Port Davon itself is only the fourth busiest port in the nation, behind Sulari, Swedes and Eshar. Since it primarily serves the Island, most of the materials that come into Davon are specifically for the Island." Hanson also pointed out the dry dock facilities at both Davon and Bozo River for ship construction. "The Emperor's Government is eyeing the deep water harbor at Luxon not as a primary shipping port, but a construction port. The goal is to increase Kalistan's naval construction and repair capacity, while taking some of the load off of Davon."

In the newest provisional budget revision, which has been developed within His Majesty's government and conforms to William's strategic plan, Luxon will receive a new Dry Doc facility capable of either constructing or repairing up to 12 vessels at a time, either modern commercial ships or naval vessels, as well as upgraded rail links to both Kaliburg and Dahriel to the north. The Port area will also undergo major development of storage facilities linked by rail. The port will be fitted with modern container loading cranes capable of servicing 12-18 cargo ships a day, as well as facilities for 24 hour operation. The New facility is expected to cost the Empire K3.2 bn, and should take up to 10 years to complete.

"We would like the ability to be able to construct shipping without seriously affecting ingress and egress of vessels at Davon here on the Island," said Hanson. "Our capacities, especially for fabrication, as limited, as our facilities in Sulari, Bozo River and the National Ship Yards in Davon are older, and Swedes doesn't have dry dock facilities. Rather than greatly disrupt those active ports it will make more sense to simply add to capacity to allow for more modern experience." According to Hanson, Luxon was chocen because of the ancient and existing deep water harbor that is formed by the fast flowing Luxon River, and because of the fact that there is not a lot of sensitive wildlife in the adjacent waters. "The last thing we want to do is disrupt fisheries," said Hanson. "But the currents flow closer to the mainland and to Lourenne, and so Luxon is kind of sparse in terms of aquatic biodiversity."

The city of Luxon welcomes the expansion of the port, but also wants to make sure that other environmental and tourist concerns are met. "We thrive off of tourism in Luxon," said Mayor Ulrich Holmes. "It is a resort town, and has some of the best weather in Ananto. As a result, we want to make sure that people aren't forced to stay indoors because of a new port facility or naval facility in the area. So we made sure that the commercial aspect of the port is not overwhelming or spoiling for the Natural environment." Pollution controls were maxed out at the port, and clean water protocols were put in place from day 1 of the planning, and the expanded Luxon Port will maintain as much of an aesthetic charm befitting of its historic status as it will environmentally conscious operations practices.

The expansion of the port is expected to begin this September with a restoration of the Jetties. Dredging the port of debris and three thousand years of sediment will begin in the spring, as will expansion of rail service.