The port is a government operation already, so that doesn't seem like much of an argument.

While I have no particular expertise as to where the bottlenecks lie, I don't think capitalism has any special solution to a limited pool of existing skilled labor, a large increase in demand, and a long lead time to train new skilled labor.

And at least some of the bottleneck occupations in question are regulated (and for good reason) about how long they can work, removing one of the most obvious ways to immediately get "new" labor - pay the existing labor whatever it takes to get them to agree to work more hours.