International ports

Volumes have rocketed at the DP World Cochin terminal in India, a result of recent cabotage reforms that paved the way for foreign-flagged tonnage in the country’s coastal trade.

Ireland’s second-largest port has boosted its customs facilities ahead of the turbulence expected from what is looking increasingly like a no-deal Brexit by the United Kingdom from the EU.

The group that represents India’s privately owned ports and terminals wants to ensure that revenues are distributed properly under a new pricing model in the final stages of implementation by the government.

Acquisitive-minded Adani Group is pursuing a deal that would give it a 72 percent stake of India's Krishnapatnam port.

The container terminal at the Port of Progreso, in the south of Mexico, will undergo an upgrade by operator APM Terminals Yucatan as the federal government also targets the port for enhancement in a plan to create a software, electronics and automobile development zone nearby.

India is investing $500 million in Iran’s Chabahar port, but a lack of demand has forced the Indian government to consider offering tariff discounts at Indian ports for carriers en route to Chabahar.

The Wednesday announcement by the Canada Infrastructure Bank solidifies the development of the project and promises funding, as an acceleration of container volume growth within the last three years pushes the Port of Montreal toward full capacity.

The investment adds momentum to the port’s efforts to improve truck fluidity following high single-digit growth last year that has since moderated to mid- single-digit gains.

With Rio de Janeiro’s Libra Terminal now in its stable of holdings, new owner International Container Terminal Services will look to boost the facility’s volumes amid competition from two rivals.

A new free trade zone created in the metropolitan area of Montreal will make it easier for manufacturers, producers, and wholesalers to make and store goods without paying taxes or excise duties on products that will eventually leave the country.

A plan in the early stages of development in Mexico would create a cabotage program that would offer an alternative to moving cargo inside the country by truck, while boosting the country’s ports.

Europe’s main waterways are again heading for the low levels that had such a brutal impact on inland cargo flows late last year.

A new round of bad weather has exacerbated recent congestion at the Bangladeshi port of Chittagong, with berthing delays averaging about eight days.

A new agreement on handling rail operations at India’s busiest port is expected to put an end to infighting that existed among the port’s terminal operators.

The Panama Canal on Friday increased from 44 feet to 45 feet the permitted depth of vessels passing through the critical waterway as canal authorities have begun to walk back depth limits introduced over the last seven months due to a lack of rainfall.

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

The government of Canada commits $102 million to improve cargo velocity and terminal fluidity at the west coast ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

A new transloading facility, this one for plastic pellets, will generate increased exports at Prince Rupert. Laden exports now comprise 25 percent of total container volume at the Fairview container terminal, which was originally envisioned as primarily an import gateway.

After strong cargo growth in 2018 due in part to diversions from Southern California, North America’s Pacific Northwest region is using a slower 2019 to implement process improvements and infrastructure developments needed to handle future growth.

Ongoing labor tension between dockworkers and DP World Australia ratcheted up on Thursday after the company said it would cut 10% of its workforce. Shippers, meanwhile, are feeling the impact of ongoing strike action by dockworkers.

While incentives implemented by the Indian government have sparked an increase in coastal and transshipment volumes, it has come at the financial expense of private terminal operators in the country.

The new CEO of the Santos port authority has ambitious plans for South America’s largest container port, including building closer ties to China.

The shallow drafts pushed up spot rates on cargo from Asia, although it’s unclear how much was due to reduced loading capacity and how much was used by carrier representatives as simply justification to seek higher rates.

Though many ports and stakeholders have already begun using an enhanced digital collaboration platform, India has set a July 20 deadline to get the laggards in line.

Crane workers Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal in India have slowed operations in recent weeks over a contract dispute, and data shows their actions are having an impact on volume flow through the facility.

With a three-month cooling-off period come and gone without a new deal, dockworkers at DP World’s Australian container terminals are putting the heat on the company this week with a series of strikes.

India is looking to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as an option to win transshipment business that is now going to rival ports in the region.

The Indian government has been working hard to transform some of its key domestic ports into regional hubs to discourage foreign transshipment, but there is one major obstacle standing in the way: port charges for mainline ship calls.

Remarks at a Mexico City trade show by Hector Lopez Gutierrez, coordinator general of the ports and merchant marine, offered a rare view of how President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), who took office in December, plans to approach port investment.

An on-site customs examination center at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is expected to speed cargo movement and ease many of the long-standing concerns for shippers at Indian ports.

The concentration of mega-ships in Europe’s hub ports continues to keep intermodal logistics under pressure.

The uneasy labor truce between workers at the Brazilian port of Santos and port authority Codesp will extend at least through July.

Customs authorities at India’s JNPT want to hear from shipping lines this week on the issue of extra charges faced by terminal users.

British Columbia employers have ratified a contract that was approved Monday by ILWU Canada, likely ensuring labor peace in Vancouver and Prince Rupert for the next five years.

A new Canada customs inspection facility close to the Port of Vancouver is expected to reduce truck congestion and expedite security inspections at Canada’s largest port.

The group representing local ship agents at India’s Jawaharlal Nehru port is asking for refunds for what it claims are overcharges made by terminals.

Normal operations are expected to resume Saturday, though Inland delays on truck and rail are likely following three days of no activity at ports in the Indian state of Gujarat.

A decision will be made Friday whether to resume marine activities in India’s Gujarat State in the aftermath of a tropical cyclone.

The British Columbia ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert are increasing their market share of US cargo because Canadian railroads are pricing intermodal more aggressively to the US Midwest than are US western railroads.