International ports

Adani Ports’ aggressive efforts to woo more ship calls at its newly-acquired Kattupalli Port on India’s east coast appear to be bearing fruit.

The government of India reiterated the importance it places on participating in the development of the port of Chabahar in southeastern Iran as the two countries work on agreeing to specific terms that would allow the project to commence.

South Korea logistics company CJ Korea Express has sold 20 percent of its stake in its loss-making terminal in Busan port to a unit of China Shipping Group.

The building of a terminal with an initial capacity of 500,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units annually in Nova Scotia inched closer to reality after a China infrastructure construction company earlier this month agreed to study the feasibility of such a project

The awarding of a public-private-partnership contract to DP World for the construction and operation of International Container Transshipment Terminal, also known as Vallarpadam Terminal, at India’s Port of Cochin has come under fire from the country’s public spending watchdog.

Japan’s transport ministry has unveiled plans to ramp up its spending on measures to shore up the sagging international competitiveness of key domestic container ports as part of broader efforts to revitalize the economy.

Having embarked on an expansion program, Incheon port aims to handle 2.5 million 20-foot-equivalent units in 2016.

In an attempt to cope with expected volume growth and improve productivity, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s largest public container handler, has embarked on a plan to build an inland port at Jalna, about 225 miles from the Nhava Sheva harbor.

The much-anticipated Panama Canal expansion project is now 96 percent complete, but will not be open to commercial traffic in April as previously reported, according to the canal authority.

Russia’s recently commissioned Bronka seaport is positioned to become a major Baltic hub thanks to its depth and proximity to the critical market of St. Petersburg.

South America’s leading container port of Santos has discovered and detained record levels of counterfeit goods in both tonnage and monetary terms as customs authorities step up their cooperation and detection efforts to crack down on fake imports.

Indira Container Terminal Pvt. Ltd. at India’s Port of Mumbai last week began container-handling at its offshore berth with the call of the Bahri Yanbu, ending months of uncertainty surrounding the future of the new, privately-developed cargo facility.

Expansion is a hot topic at La Spezia Container Terminal these days, and so is growth thanks to numerous investments to boost capacity and productivity.

Grimaldi Group has thrown its hat into the ring for two multi-purpose terminals that will be concessioned in Brazil in the next two years.

The Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association has applied for a block exemption order from the city’s competition law that came into effect on Dec. 14 and effectively outlaws the vessel sharing agreements that dominate shipping activity at the port.

Container transshipment volumes at the Port of Busan were up almost 10 percent in October as the South Korea hub steadily grows this transit cargo segment than accounted for 53 percent of its throughput during the month.

Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co., a major transportation and logistics service provider in Japan, has agreed to acquire a container terminal operator at home and established three new subsidiaries abroad to further expand its global operations.

China’s Cosco Pacific is reportedly the only company that has submitted a bid for a 51 percent stake in the state-owned port of Piraeus.

Throughput at China’s top 20 container ports rose 4 percent in the first 11 months of the year compared to 2014 as most of the mainland terminals continue to grow volumes despite slowing trade putting the brakes on exports.

Rotterdam dockworkers have voted to strike in the New Year to protest potential job losses at the port’s new highly automated container terminals.

Evergreen Group’s Colon Container Terminal in Panama has completed the third phase of an expansion that will allow the terminal to handle the largest ships that will transit the Panama Canal’s soon-to-open larger locks.

Container throughput at the port of Singapore fell by nearly 16 percent in November compared with the same month last year.

The protracted privatization of the port of Piraeus is picking up pace with binding bids for one of Europe’s top container hubs to be submitted by a Dec. 21 deadline.

The port of Antwerp said its annual container traffic will exceed 9 million 20-foot-equivalent units for the first time in 2015 and total cargo throughput will also set a new record of more than 200 million tonnes (220 tons).

Chennai Port Trust, India’s second-largest state-owned, major container handler, has announced a new incentive scheme to attract more container line calls.

India and Iran are trying to agree on contract terms to pave the way for work to commence on the development of the port of Chabahar with container handling capabilities in southeastern Iran.

A new container terminal with an annual capacity of 300,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units has recently been commissioned in Estonia’s Sillamae seaport, which is the closest EU port to Russia.

The port of Busan in South Korea saw a rise of over 9 percent in its transshipment container throughput in the month of October as its continued growth in the segment erased losses in gateway volumes.

DP World, the new owner of Prince Rupert's container terminal, and the port authority are already considering expanding the port’s annual capacity by more than 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units — even though the latest buildout has yet to be completed.

Antwerp has signed a twinning agreement with Guangzhou, China’s fifth-largest port, to boost Asia-Europe traffic and exploit opportunities from Beijing’s “Belt and Road “program.

Container traffic at seaports in Russia’s Baltics Basin is slowly recovering from the effects of economic crisis caused by Western sanctions and general uncertainty in Russia’s economy.

Khalifa Port Container Terminal recorded a 36 percent year-over-year jump in container volume during the first 10 months of this year, according to the newest port data released by port operator Abu Dhabi Ports Company.

The impact of the impending merger between Chinese state-owned shipping giants Cosco and China Shipping on Malaysia's Westports would be cushioned by CMA CGM's planned buyout of Neptune Orient Lines, according to CIMB Securities.

Cargo volumes at Germany’s new deep-sea container terminal in Wilhelmshaven gained traction this year after a very slow start that forced it to put its workforce on a short-time labor scheme.

The jungle port of Porto Chibatao has reopened after the sinking of two harbor cranes and two pontoons into the Rio Negro closed the Manaus, Brazil facility.

Just in time for Christmas there is finally some good news for the stricken container port of Itajai in Brazil, which received the necessary permitting for the construction of an expanded turning basin at a cost of 105 million reais ($27.59 million)

The port of La Spezia is on a mission to convince Asia’s shippers to reroute their Italy cargo through the north Italy gateway instead of sending containers via the traditional north Europe terminals and is investing heavily to increase the port's capacity.

Aligning the roles of different levels of government, in particular the critical role by the states in the provision of land for development, is a key challenge being addressed in the study currently underway that will form the basis of Malaysia’s National Port Strategy.

Greece has postponed the deadline for binding offers for the port of Piraeus yet again, fuelling further doubts over the privatization of the country’s leading container hub.

All of the ocean carriers using terminals at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust have begun issuing import delivery orders electronically, reducing wait times and easing congestion at India’s biggest container gateway.