Breakbulk ports

Industrial projects reliant on imported steel are expected to feel the pinch of an import and quality crackdown in the country.

The Port of Virginia is enjoying a 372% surge in breakbulk cargo volumes thanks largely to handling cargo shipments supporting a 2.6-gigawatt offshore wind project.

Beth Ann Branch is taking the reins as New Orleans develops the $1.8 billion Louisiana International Terminal, which will allow the port to service ultra-large container ships.

Container lines are contracting directly with perishables shippers, undercutting volume brokers, but the specialized reefer fleet is hanging on to niche markets as a handful of ports pivot toward dockside cold storage.

Should a strike occur — and if it continues for an extended period — one possible outcome is the spillover of container cargo into breakbulk vessels, similar to the scenario that played out in response to supply chain bottlenecks during the pandemic.

Multipurpose carriers are reluctant to invest in newbuildings for several reasons, including uncertainty around the availability of carbon-neutral fuels for tramp shipping.

Major roll-on/roll-off carriers reported climbing net rates in the first half even as demand for machinery and rolling stock faltered and a congested shipping market tightened capacity.

Automobile shipments, especially electric vehicles from China, are strong, while high container rates and capacity shortages are pushing breakbulk, project cargo and equipment shippers toward the ro/ro sector.

Spillover talk is surfacing, but a shift has yet to materialize at Port Houston while oil and gas-related steel demand is on the downswing as rig counts drop.

Brunswick could overtake Baltimore as the busiest ro/ro port in the US, at least in the short term, partly because operations at the Maryland port were severely restricted following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.  

Despite sliding breakbulk volumes during the first five months of the year, there are signs that spillover cargo may reappear at the Port of New Orleans thanks to the disrupted global market.

Trade disruption and related congestion, high container rates and tight capacity are pushing shippers to rethink transport modes and make early moves toward revisiting the spillover market seen during the pandemic.

The US DOT’s latest iteration of a national multimodal freight network map presents an opportunity to pinpoint vital routes and address concerns specific to out-of-gauge and heavy-haul road transport.

Brandy Christian led the Port of New Orleans during the acquisition of its on-dock rail network and spearheaded the development of a new terminal that will allow the port to service ultra-large ships.

Roll-on/roll-off carriers Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Höegh Autoliners anticipate high auto volumes and tight capacity ahead amid Red Sea-driven diversions.

The Houston-based company expands to 30 vessels as it takes on management of six Harren Group bulkers and adds two more MPV ships to its fleet.

The gateway’s long-serving chief executive will be replaced by Charlie Jenkins, who is overseeing the widening and deepening of Houston’s ship channel.

With the busiest roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) port in the US closed to ship traffic, automobile manufacturers and ro/ro carriers are shifting to alternative ports.

The multipurpose sector is managing security risk, dodging pricey transit fees at the Panama Canal and finding new cargo sources as route diversions globally become routine.

Project volumes will include steel and modules related to the development of the second phase of the $21 billion Venture Global liquefied natural gas export facility under construction in Plaquemines Parish, downriver from New Orleans.

The flow of roll-on/roll-off cargo shows little sign of slowing as carriers ink long-term deals with automotive and high and heavy manufacturers.

The new ships, scheduled for delivery in 2026, form a fleet renewal program to replace three existing ro/ro vessels operated by Louis Dreyfus under a long-term charter agreement with Airbus that has been in place for more than 20 years.

Existing wind-related manufacturing capacity in the US struggles to meet the local content requirements of the measure, frustrating would-be developers and pushing away some early investors.

As US project cargo demand — and cargoes themselves — grow, heavy-haul trucking carriers are struggling with permitting delays, infrastructure complications and a rapidly aging workforce.

Breakbulk shippers and logistics providers have several proposals for changes to ISPM 15 mitigation and enforcement measures pending approval from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The acquisition of Avondale by the port comes just as the state of Louisiana readies to auction its first round of offshore wind leases.

Pandemic congestion may be easing as container rates fall, but breakbulk spillover cargo shows no sign of slowing at the Port of New Orleans.

In a hot breakbulk market, carriers are asking for — and getting — far higher detention fees to cover their potential losses when shippers delay loading or picking up their cargo.

The Port of Houston is trying to expedite a $1 billion dredging project as an ongoing surge in containerized freight shows the need for more capacity at the Gulf Coast’s busiest port.

Houston is seeing a surge in imports thanks to the upsizing of vessel services from Asia as other Gulf Coast ports look for a similar uplift.

Controlling dangerous wood-boring pests in wood packaging material will require more consistent enforcement across the US and helping the private sector learn how to look for these pests themselves.

After a COVID-19 pandemic lull, violations of ISPM 15 regulations around dangerous insects are increasing in Houston and elsewhere, triggering costly remedies and intense frustration in the breakbulk and project cargo community.

Houston pilots said they will allow larger ships to transit the ship channel in a nod to ease a restriction that was seen as falling unfairly on the container shipping industry.

The Texas legislation being questioned by two Federal Maritime Commissioners stemmed from concerns among non-container port users that the growing volume of containerships calling Houston are disrupting the ability of other vessels to transit in an efficient manner.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel is looking into ways that Houston could handle larger vessels before a widening project is complete, given a Texas law that puts size limits on port calls.

Approval of the Water Resources Development Act this year includes authorization to begin spending down the more than $9 billion balance in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

UHL, one of very few carriers currently adding newbuildings to the multipurpose fleet, is scheduled to receive eight new F900 ships through December 2021, with the first ship scheduled for delivery in December.

Falling oil prices and rising demand for wind turbines are driving the mix of breakbulk and project cargo in Houston and throughout the US Gulf.

The latest federal funds for the Port of Houston will go to restoring 2,700 linear feet of wharf and upgrading 84 acres of yard space at Barbours Cut Terminal.

The need to widen the channel gained urgency last year when a group of non-container businesses that rely on the port expressed concerns their cargoes would be squeezed by the increasing size and number of container ships moving through Houston.