Forwarding

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has kept disruptions to a minimum at the Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports and Los Angeles International Airport by working with the trade community to prioritize allocation of resources during this period of sequestration, a top Customs official said yesterday.

International Port Corp.’s ocean freight service between Miami and Havana has been canceled less than a year after its launch, according to The Associated Press, NBC Latino reports.

Shippers and logistics providers that book ocean container shipments through INTTRA can now buy cargo insurance on its platform through a link with FP Marine Risks.

LCL Logistix has launched a new less-than-containerload groupage service from India to the Baltics and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Ship operators worldwide face “significant” refinancing and default risks, driven by tight bank funding, industry overcapacity, depressed trading conditions, high operating costs and declining ship charter rates...

The European Commission has launched a €66.7 million (about US$85.2 million) call for proposals to fight road congestion and make freight transport greener in the framework of the Marco Polo program...

AdvanFort has named Dimitrios Angelopoulos, a retired Hellenic Navy submarine commander, as its new business development manager.

Chris Holloway has joined Metro Group Maritime, a commercial receivable management, debt recovery and consulting company focused on the maritime and transportation industry.

The NOL Group has unveiled its new 14,000 20-foot-equivalent unit APL Temasek container ship at the PSA Pasir Panjang Terminal in Singapore.

With the transit of Canada Steamship Lines’ newly built Baie St. Paul through the St. Lambert Lock, the St. Lawrence Seaway’s 55th navigation season has opened, according to the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.

The International Bunker Industry Association has appointed Peter Hall as its new chief executive.

Two Italian ship guards accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in February last year returned to New Delhi on Friday evening, easing a standoff that threatened to strain diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The 2013 shipping season at the Port of Duluth-Superior in Minnesota, on the western edge of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system, has kicked off.

Three new board members have been appointed to the Maritime New Zealand Authority, including Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai, Belinda Vernon and Russell Watson.

At the Connecticut Maritime Association event this week, Masamichi Morooka, chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, warned that measures to reduce shipping’s impact on the environment also need to be...

The lingering economic recession in Europe will set off a cascading of vessels that will result in another year of volatile freight rates in the U.S. import trade from Asia, according to an international maritime industry analyst.

Costamare has received delivery of the MSC Athens, an 8,827 20-foot-equivalent unit vessel built by Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in South Korea, commencing its 10-year time charter with Mediterranean Shipping Co.

The container ship Guangyangxingang capsized and sank off the east coast of China on Monday evening, killing at least 11 crewmembers, the Associated Press reports.

The Indian Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Italian ambassador to India cannot claim “diplomatic immunity” in a legal dispute over Rome’s refusal to return two ship guards charged with the killing of Indian fishermen.

The Federal Maritime Commission has asked Consolidated Chassis Management to provide more information on its request to permit lessors, truckers and other equipment contributors to serve on the boards of CCM and its regional pools.

The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. will increase tolls for the 2013 navigation season by 3 percent, following a five-year freeze on toll rates.

That some shippers are slow to adopt the growing number of e-commerce tools available online illustrates the retro mindset of a global container shipping industry mired in costly paperwork habits.

A shipping company in China is planning a commercial voyage via the Arctic Ocean to the U.S. and Europe in 2013.

Diana Shipping today reported net income in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $5 million, slumping 75 percent from $20.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Italian foreign ministry on Tuesday said it will not send back two ship guards charged with the killing of Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in February 2012, dealing a severe blow to the trial process initiated by the Indian Supreme Court.

Almost 150 sailings on the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe routes were cancelled between October 2012 and February 2013, which has significantly impact freight rates and the regularity of service provided to shippers...

European ferry giant Stena Line is examining further service options in Asia after announcing that its first route between the South Korean city of Sokcho and the Russian ports of Zarubino and Vladivostok will start operations on March 19.

Clarksons’ pretax profit plunged to £20.4 million ($30.6 million) in 2012 from £32.2 million in 2011, as the world’s biggest ship broker was buffeted by weakening shipping markets that saw rates in some sectors slump to their lowest levels since the 1980s.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Beneficial cargo owners still have too many concerns about long-term index-linked contracts to abandon the long-established model of negotiating annual freight contracts with ocean carriers, a panel on the new instruments was told at the TPM Conference in Long Beach on Monday.

Striking new statistics on the origin of Chinese exports reveal how the focus of Chinese manufacturing is gradually shifting away from the costly south and toward the north and west.

Seacor Holdings reported a net loss of $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, including a loss from continuing operations of $8.3 million, dropping from a profit of $17.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Analysts are hopeful that trade between Japan and China will improve gradually this year after a 2012 slump made far more painful by a territorial dispute over a group of islands in the East China Sea.

Toyota will begin exporting U.S.-assembled Venza vehicles to Russia and Ukraine in 2013.

Weiss Röhlig has launched a weekly consolidation container service for loose cargo from Taiwan to Boston.