Port News

President Obama’s proposal to restore U.S.-Cuba diplomatic trade relations has kindled interest in increased shipments between the nations, and is raising hopes among Gulf ports and shippers that a new market could develop almost in their front yard.

The U.S. East Coast spot rate hit $5,049 per FEU this week as rising demand for the all-water service pushed rates to record levels, according to the latest reading of the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI).

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

What is the true impact of the West Coast labor showdown on U.S. agricultural exports? There is controversy over the data.

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.

The president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union recorded a video message urging members to support ILWU contract negotiators and ignore “bullshit” from the Pacific Maritime Association.

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.

Texas and Louisiana ports believe they’re still early in what they expect to be an extended boom in exports of chemical products produced in the region with cheap U.S. natural gas.

With less than a week to the Chinese New Year factory shutdowns and congestion delays frustrating trans-Pacific shippers, DHL is ensuring it has enough air cargo space on its U.S. routes to handle the rising demand.

The operator of the Port of Portland terminal that Hanjin Shipping is vacating after repeated labor disruptions said it will seek new business for the terminal but that the International Longshore and Warehouse Union must do its part.

The Pacific Maritime Association said its members will suspend U.S. West Coast vessel operations on four of the next five days rather than provide longshoremen with holiday or weekend pay for “severely diminished productivity.”

The Port of Virginia last month posted its highest January container volume, handling 191,996 loaded and empty 20-foot-equivalent units, a 15 percent year-over-year increase.

When U.S. West Coast port congestion clears, there are increasing signs that shippers’ frustrations with shipment delays of weeks will spur them to permanently re-route freight through the East Coast, much like they did in 2002 following a 10-day marine terminal lockout.

A weekend call by the Maersk Kotba on the North Europe service of Maersk Line’s 2M operation with Mediterranean Shipping Co. is the first call by the Danish carrier’s ships in New Orleans in three years.

The Port of Virginia has begun posting weekly statistics for truck turn times and container dwell times at its terminals, something drayage operators have been clamoring for at other U.S. ports.

February imports through top U.S. container gateways are expected to rise 10.1 percent year-over-year despite West Coast congestion that has stalled shipments and shifted cargo to the East Coast, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker.

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.

International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has paid $5.8 million for the remaining 10 percent of Victoria International Container Terminal (VICT) it doesn’t own that was held by Anglo Ports.

Foreign trade helped to drive up container volumes at China’s top seven ports in January as a late rush for Chinese New Year shipments saw year-over-year throughput growth of 5.3 percent.

Hanjin Shipping so dominated the container business at the U.S. West Coast Port of Portland that the carrier’s decision to sever direct calls early next month will have a deep impact on a community it has worked with for more than 20 years.

Hanjin Shipping Co. said Wednesday in Asia that it was withdrawing direct service to the Port of Portland, Oregon, after a 2 1/2-year-old dispute with longshoremen that severely undermined productivity.

Waterfront employers and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are making what could be a last-ditch effort to win the hearts and minds — and pocketbooks — of the ILWU rank and file as coastwide contract negotiations may be hopelessly gridlocked.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will launch the next phase of its clean-trucks program in mid-March, and hopes to secure funding to replace more than 1,800 additional older trucks with newer models during the next three years.

The Port of Long Beach Monday celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Green Port Policy, a program that has significantly reduced pollution affecting the air, water, soil, wildlife and neighboring communities.

New Jersey legislators have moved a step closer to passing a bill to dissolve the bistate Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor and transfer its New Jersey operations to the state police.

A weakening Chinese economy in January was not enough to hold back Shanghai’s container volumes as the busiest port in the country handled 3.16 million 20-foot containers during the month, a year-over-year increase of 5.3 percent.

Annual throughput at Khalifa Port Container Terminal (KPCT) soared past 1 million TEUs in 2014 as an expanded international network helped the Abu Dhabi Ports facility grow its volumes by more than 26 percent over the previous year.

Loaded imports through the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex fell by a quarter last month compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting the severity of pain congestion has inflicted on the largest container gateway in the Americas.

Longshoremen in Portland refused to work on Monday, making it four days in a row that a Hanjin Shipping Co. vessel has been sitting idle at the Pacific Northwest port’s only container terminal.

U.S. West Coast employers on Monday blasted International Longshore and Warehouse Union negotiators, implying they are holding back rank-and-file members from even voting on what employers consider to be a generous contract over a demand that the ILWU be able to unilaterally fire waterfront arbitrators.

Drayage companies that are considering filing legal challenges to ocean carrier-imposed fees for the late return of equipment under the Uniform Intermodal Interchange Agreement should have confidence that their cases will be heard and arbitrated fairly, executive with the American Trucking Associations said.

As negotiations between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and waterfront employers drag on, the impact of U.S. West Coast port congestion is rippling far beyond just U.S. supply chains and hampering shippers from Canada to Japan.

A proposed tax on stored empty containers was stricken from legislation that a New Jersey Assembly committee approved to encourage value-added development around Port Newark-Elizabeth marine terminals.

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.

Eurogate boosted container traffic by 4.2 percent in 2014, driven by surging volumes at its Tangier terminal and increased calls by ultra-large ships that consolidated its ranking as Europe’s largest container handler.

A cold chain logistics operator has placed a figure on the steadily worsening U.S. West Coast port congestion, warning that delays and diversions are helping to wipe out shipper profit margins.

The challenging environment faced by Hutchison Port Holdings Trust terminals in Hong Kong was reflected in the financial results of the Singapore listed port operator as goodwill impairment charges took its net loss to $2.4 billion in the fourth quarter.