International ports

Despite ongoing congestion at the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, don’t expect Mexican ports to become major gateways for U.S.-bound cargo anytime soon, Transplace CEO Thomas Sanderson said Tuesday.

Gate operations resumed Thursday morning at the South Shore of Burrard Inlet at Port Metro Vancouver, with the exception of the Centerm container terminal after a four-alarm chemical fire closed the facilities Wednesday.

Rio de Janeiro will be the first container port to benefit from Brazil’s $1.28 billion dredging program.

The port of Rotterdam Authority’s revenue rose in 2014 on increased activity in Europe’s largest container hub, but profits were reduced by higher interest charges linked to record investments in new facilities.

A Port Metro Vancouver terminal closed Wednesday afternoon after a four-alarm chemical fire started in one container and spread to others.

The Panama Canal Pilots Union, which is in negotiations for a new five-year contract, said it was encouraged by statements made by Panama Canal Authority CEO Jorge Quijano at the 15th annual TPM Conference here Tuesday.

Shippers who tried to divert their containerized cargo to the U.S. East Coast during the paralyzing port congestion at West Coast ports in the last few months were not always successful because they did not have long-standing relations with carriers serving the East Coast, according to panelists at the 15th annual TPM Conference.

Panama Canal Authority CEO Jorge L. Quijano said that it’s possible for Nicaragua and its Hong Kong backer to build a rival canal in five years, but it’s not a “feasible investment from a private investment standpoint.”

PSA International kick-started work on its $350 million expansion of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust after signing a contract related to dredging and reclamation work for a fourth container terminal at India’s largest container gateway.

The Port of Busan plans to handle 20 million TEUs this year after posting record volume in 2014, mainly because of healthy transshipment traffic.

The Nigerian government is poised to open more inland ports to help decongest the country’s overwhelmed terminals in Lagos.

Retailers continue to feel the hangover of West Coast port gridlock that will persist for weeks despite tentative agreement on a coastwide longshore labor contract.

Greece’s pledge on Tuesday not to halt ongoing and planned privatizations has paved the way for the sale of the state’s stakes in the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki, Athens airport and rail freight companies.

The Panama Canal Authority is setting its sights on retaining the increase in container volumes from Asia to the U.S. East and Gulf Coast ports it gained in recent months, thanks to shippers diverting cargo from congested West Coast ports.

CMA CGM has opened a logistics complex, between the port and city of Douala, Cameroon, and set up a new firm to handle inland transportation in West African markets.

India’s long-contemplated plan to build a privately operated container transshipment hub at Vizhinjam, near Trivandrum, took a hit after investor groups balked at rebidding for the contract on Friday.

Drayage drivers serving the port of Manila warn that new rules requiring the phase-out of older trucks will cause congestion to rear its head again at the Philippines’ largest container port.

The Brazilian port of Santos recently handled the largest container ship in its history, the 10,900-TEU CMA CGM Tigris. But if Brazilian pilots have their way, neither it nor other big ships will be allowed to berth in Santos or other Brazilian ports.

Driven by firm auto shipments, the Port of Nagoya easily retained its status as the biggest export hub among Japan's airports and seaports in 2014 in terms of value, according to figures from customs authorities.

The Spanish port of Algeciras maintained its narrow lead over domestic rival Valencia as the biggest Mediterranean container hub in 2014, but it faces a growing challenge from new West African terminals.

Brazil will release a National Export Plan early in March and it can’t come fast enough for shippers in the South American country, who were expecting it to launch this month and see it as adding to a weak currency in boosting exports

Port Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, expects container volume to expand roughly 4 percent this year after traffic increased 3.1 percent in 2014 to a record 2.9 million TEUs.

DP World is to build a third berth at London Gateway, its deep-water container terminal and logistics complex 25 miles east of the U.K. capital.

Rotterdam claims it is the first European port to handle over 3 million TEUs of traffic to and from China and is set to extend its lead over second ranked Hamburg in 2015.

The port of Hamburg increased container traffic by 5.1 percent in 2014 to a record 9.7 million TEUs and is aiming to smash through the 10 million TEUs barrier this year.

From the Port of Visakhapatnam on India's southeastern coast, Shreyas Shipping and Logistics' fortnightly service feeds into global transshipment connections available at Jebel Ali in Dubai.

India’s major ports owned by the federal government reported a year-over-year growth in container volumes of 7.5 percent from April 2014 through January 2015, the first 10 months of fiscal year 2014-15, according to provisional port data compiled by JOC.com.

One traditional group of Brazilian exporters, chicken producers, and one new importer of components, BMW, are helping the Porto Itapoa become a strong regional container port competitor.

HHLA’s operating profit jumped 10 percent in 2014 as the largest container handler in the port of Hamburg shrugged off lower Russian feeder shipments and a slump in traffic at its Ukraine terminal that left total volume unchanged from the previous year.

Workers on Thursday installed the first of more than 1,000 concrete roadway segments that will provide the Bayonne Bridge with a roadway high enough to accommodate larger ships at container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The British Columbia government's pick to oversee the new drayage program for Port Metro Vancouver has spurred a union driver backlash.

When Panama wanted to expand its canal it sought the permission of its citizens through a referendum in 2006 that showed overwhelming approval for the $5.25 billion project. In contrast, Nicaragua allowed a Hong Kong-based company to begin construction in December with no referendum, and is seeing violent resistance to the project, said Panama Canal Authority CEO Jorge L. Quijano.

Port Metro Vancouver’s new trucker licensing system took effect Sunday despite continuing protests from some 600 drivers who weren’t certified to operate at Canada’s largest container port.

There is growing concern among port users and service providers in Brazil that the newly appointed Special Ports minister may not be the right man for the job: a post which entails deciding which projects – out of more than US$4 billion in proposals sitting on his desk – should get the go-ahead this year.

GCT Global Container Terminals plans to spend several hundred million dollars in the next few years to increase its Vancouver terminals’ capacity and fluidity in anticipation of handling more U.S.-bound cargo and Canadian volume.

When it comes to whether Port Metro Vancouver will experience a crippling drayage strike like it did last March, the ball is in union and non-union drivers’ court.

Capacity additions and a significant acceleration in cargo volumes helped drive strong third-quarter results for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), India’s largest private port infrastructure developer.

Many Canadian importers are receiving shipments two to three weeks longer than usual and exporters are missing sailing windows because of container vessels delays at U.S. West Coast ports are rippling north.

Antwerp posted a 4.7 percent increase in container traffic in 2014, trailing a 5.7 percent rise at close rival Rotterdam but reversing a 0.7 percent decline in 2013.