Port infrastructure

SC Ports says the work will allow the terminal to attract growing volumes of cargo moving through the Suez Canal on large ships that are too big to call the facility now.

Deepening Savannah’s shipping channel, which would take about 10 years to complete, would put the port on par with other major Southeast ports such as Charleston and Norfolk.

While shippers say the situation — which could linger through mid-November — is less than ideal, many noted there have been no real impacts yet.

The cranes are part of overall improvements to update and expand Blount Island operations and double its current capacity to 500,000 TEU by 2025.

Familiar reminders of the disruptions to supply chains caused by climate change, such as low water levels on the Rhine River and in the Panama Canal and wildfires in North America, are becoming more frequent and intense.

The National Association of Waterfront Employees says terminal operators are potentially on the hook for “tens of billions of dollars” to upgrade their cargo handling equipment and allowing them to use tax-deferred funds would increase their purchasing power.

The Georgia Ports Authority has acknowledged the added berth capacity was sorely needed during the worst of the pandemic-driven port congestion when Savannah’s queue hit more than 30 ships in September 2021.

Brunswick’s growth comes amid rising automotive production, pent-up consumer demand and an easing of the semiconductor shortage that occurred during the pandemic.

The problems flared in recent weeks after Ocean Network Express shifted a vessel service out of Jacksonville’s other primary container terminal, Dames Point, causing a volume imbalance between the two terminals.

The US Department of Transportation is funding infrastructure projects that include carbon neutralization plans, updating miles of century-old rail and improving port access roads.

The funds will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with three separate grant opportunities soliciting applications under a single program called the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant program.

The bipartisan legislation does not identify specific countries that manufacture the cranes that would be subject to inspection, but a statement from the co-sponsors specifically mentions China.

The Georgia Ports Authority expects to begin construction on the approximately $170 million terminal in early 2024, which will have a focus on manufacturing imports and poultry exports.

Jaxport is seeking a new tenant or tenants for a 79-acre parcel at the Talleyrand Marine Terminal in preparation for Toyota vacating the property in 2025.

Vancouver’s proposed Robert Banks Terminal 2 cleared a major federal environmental hurdle this week, putting the focus on who will construct and build the facility with a planned annual capacity of 2.4 million TEU.

The improvements are planned ahead of the Port of Virginia’s dredging project that will deepen Norfolk Harbor to 55 feet and widen its ship channels so the port can accommodate two-way vessel traffic.

APM said the new section of the terminal will operate with net-zero emissions and be fully automated and prepared for shore power installation.

Newly launched ocean carriers Kalypso and Ellerman are debuting trans-Atlantic services for US shippers that want to bypass the delays and congestion seen over most of 2022.

The award of two federal grants to the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT) will help fund a dredging project that will allow the port to handle larger vessels.

It has taken many years, but tangible progress is finally being made in the engineering works to widen and deepen the Port of Hamburg’s key access waterway.

Altamira, Mexico’s fourth-largest port by cargo volume, is moving ahead with dredging work and a bridge repair project that port officials hope will attract larger cargo volumes.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam unveiled an international trade plan to boost exports by 50 percent in the next 15 years, a key initiative since laden exports fell between January and August for the second consecutive year.

JAXPORT received a $20 million grant from the USDOT, which will fund a portion of the $238 million cost of expanding the Blount Island terminal in Jacksonville as part of a long-term plan to drive more traffic and larger containerships to the port.

The Port of Philadelphia is planning for an increase in rail cargo and refrigerated goods as it as it prepares to handle larger vessels when the dredging of the Delaware River is complete.

Vessels of up to 14,000 TEU could be calling at the Port of Mobile by 2024 if a $400 million dredging project approved three weeks ago by the US Army Corps of Engineers goes according to plan.

The state of Florida has appropriated $35.3 million dollars to deepen the Jacksonville Harbor to 47 feet along a 11-mile stretch to the Blount Island terminal by 2023.

The Port of Houston is looking for industry and public support as it tries to accelerate the pace of a project to widen the Houston Ship Channel amid growing cargo volumes.

It has taken many years, but finally dredging work on the crucial river access to Europe’s third-largest port has begun.

Private businesses that would benefit from a project to widen and deepen the Houston Ship Channel could speed its completion by helping fund the $1 billion project, officials said.

Non-container vessel operators and users say the increasing size of container ships, and the narrowness of the channel, means that other ships are sometimes restricted from using the channel because container ships are so large no other vessel can occupy the channel.

While the Port of Houston Authority ruled that only one container vessel larger than 9,500 TEU could traverse the port channel each week, the authority argues that enshrining the limit into law could have sweeping consequences that would damage the port economy.

Resin industry and other exporters are bracing for the impact of a new Port of Houston regulation limiting mega-ship transport on the port’s main channel to one a week.

The Port of New York and New Jersey is preparing for the future arrival of 18,000-TEU vessels by raising cranes, planning new dredging, and looking to improve the efficiency of ships through its main channel.

A $6.9 million federal grant will enable the Port of Baltimore to dredge to 50 feet a berth at its only container terminal, enabling the terminal to better handle growing cargo volumes by hosting two mega-ships at once.

Port of Hamburg marketing joint CEO Ingo Egloff said the vital infrastructure project was being blocked by objections from environmental pressure groups, which he said was unacceptable.

A deal between the port of Santos and pilots will allow more cargo to enter the port and provide carriers with more operational flexibility.

The biggest ship in CMA CGM's fleet called at Hamburg this week, but even though the port has the infrastructure to handle mega-ships, the delay in dredging the Elbe River access channel continues to hold back volume growth.

The depth of 55 feet would make Virginia the deepest harbor on the US East Coast.

The Port of Boston’s stance regarding its expansion is, “If you build it, they will come.” The port, which after its upgrade will be able to handle 14,000 TEU ships, also says it will be able to bring freight closer to customers than other US East Coast ports.

Channel-deepening projects at the ports of Savannah and Corpus Christi are included in the Trump administration’s US Army Corps of Engineers budget request; Congress has the final say regarding funding. Georgia's governor argued the Savannah project is the Southeast's most important infrastructure project.