International ports

Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port Container Terminal is preparing for another expansion next year in order to keep up with demand.

Cambodia’s Phnomh Penh Autonomous Port will become a listed company on Wednesday after a successful initial public offering that saw 20 percent of its share capital sold to private investors.

Container throughput at India’s major ports inched up 1.83 percent year-over-year in the first eight fiscal months, as sluggish global demand dragged down volume growth at the country’s state-owned cargo gateways.

Shippers using the jungle port facility of Chibatão, in Manaus, Brazil, face delays the rest of this week after two floating pontoons and two harbor cranes sunk into the Rio Negro following an accident during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Construction has begun on a 103.77 million reais ($27.63 million) entrance road into the port of Santos, Latin America’s largest container port.

The Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association is lobbying the Hong Kong government to increase the maximum height clearance limit for ships passing under a bridge that crosses the critical Ma Wan Channel.

A shortage of land suitable for goods movement in proximity to Port Metro Vancouver threatens to restrict the growth of trade at Canada’s largest container port within 10 years, according to a study commissioned by the port.

In Australia terms, Melbourne’s port is a heavyweight, liftings 2.6 million 20-foot-equivalent units annually, which is 36 percent of the country’s total container traffic.

North Adriatic ports should pool resources and develop an offshore terminal to allow mega-ship access, an Italian port official has said.

Container volume declines at Russia, Georgia and Ukraine seaports deepened in the third quarter while traffic at Bulgaria and Romania ports stayed virtually flat compared to the second quarter, according to a report from Russia shipping analyst Informall BG.

Impeachment proceedings against Brazil President Dilma Rousseff and even her potential exit aren’t expected to derail the government’s port concession process, which is expected to raise 1.1 billion reais ($292.53 million) raised next week via public auction for four port terminals, according to maritime insiders.

As more terminal capacity comes online and volume remains muted, port operators along South America’s west coast, principally in Peru and Chile, are expecting competition for cargo to be fierce in 2016.

Nearly two weeks of heavy rains and unprecedented flooding have crippled supply chains and industrial activities in and around India’s southern port city of Chennai.

Truckers using Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust will see faster turnarounds, as terminal operator DP World introduced a new automated gate system on Thursday.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust unveiled a new equipment upgrade plan in an attempt to further improve service levels at India’s biggest container gateway.

Hong Kong’s throughput woes could deepen if plans issued by a Shanghai government body for liberalizing cabotage in China come to fruition.

The Panama Canal Authority said a contractor has advised it will complete work next month on reinforcement of lock sills that failed tests and raised questions about the planned April opening of the canal’s expansion.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust saw throughput remain virtually static during November, as India’s busiest major, public container handler struggled to grow volumes amid the downturn in the global shipping market.

The future of the southern Brazil port of Itajai is once again in the balance as federal authorities refuse to release the urgently needed funding for emergency dredging to restore the 41 to 42.6-foot draft of the port following heavy rains from El Nino.

Seven out of 10 global shippers lack the visibility in their supply chains needed to prepare and respond to disruptions — whether they are port labor slowdowns, natural disasters or something else.

Krishnapatnam Port Container Terminal’s efforts to grow throughput received a push last week when Hyundai Merchant Marine via its Asia-Chennai Service made an ad-hoc call at the private, minor facility on India’s east coast as part of what the Korean carrier called a “market evaluation drive.”

The two companies operating the Port of Yokohama and the Port of Kawasaki in Japan may merge by next spring in a bid to shore up the sagging international competitiveness of the key container ports.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust continues to revamp its gate systems in order to improve truck turn times and alleviate cargo delays at India’s biggest container gateway.

Laem Chabang port is undertaking three key infrastructure projects worth $167 million to improve efficiency and expand its position as a trade hub for ASEAN, according to port director Montree Rerkjamnian.

The Port of Baku, the oldest and largest port on the Caspian Sea, will complete phase 1 of its new international sea and trade port by 2017, increasing capacity to 11.5 million tons of cargo per year and up to 50,000 containers, many of which could be transshipped between China, Central Asia and Europe.

Rotterdam dock workers are planning a series of 24-hour strikes over the next two months to protest possible lay-offs at the port’s newest container terminals.

As the ideology known as Kirchnerismo begins to fade in Argentina following the defeat of outgoing president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s intended successor in elections Sunday, shippers and container terminal operators in Buenos Aires may benefit from an increase in trade.

The World Bank is assisting Malaysia to develop a national port strategy to better position its ports sector as a critical facilitator of economic growth.

Work on the nearly complete expansion of the Panama Canal was affected this week by a 24-hour national strike by a construction workers’ union protesting alleged court corruption and a possible increase in the nation’s retirement age.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust has issued a tender calling for proposals from domestic and international firms to set up industrial units at its much-awaited special economic zone, as India’s biggest container handler looks for new avenues to grow its cargo volumes amid slowing global trade.

Brazil’s Special Ports Ministry, or SEP, is preparing to launch a new National Plan for Port Logistics, or PNLP, which will outline future growth in the sector up to the year 2042 and underpin investments totaling more than 40 billion reais ($10.77 billion).

Container terminals in China looking to improve their environmental performance need look no further than Shekou Container Terminals.

China’s top eight container ports handled fewer containers in October compared with the same period last year as Customs data for the month showed worse than expected international trade figures.

The government of Greece has again extended the bidding process for the sale of the port in Piraeus — the country’s largest — this time at the request of the potential purchasers.

The Galex service, an intra-Asia loop operated jointly by Emirates Shipping Line, Hanjin Shipping, Korea Marine Transport Co. and Regional Container Lines, is adding a second call at Cochin, India, on its eastbound rotation.

The announcement this week by CMA CGM that it will share slots on China Ocean Shipping Company’s trans-Pacific service from Asia to Prince Rupert, Canada, caps off one of the more eventful years in the short history of the port’s container operations.

Citigroup revised downward its net income estimate for Malaysia’s Westports Holdings in fiscal years 15 to 17 by 5 percent to 6 percent and reiterated its sell rating on the stock, despite the terminal operator handling a record 2.29 million TEUs in the third quarter.

The vessel backlog that’s plagued the Panama Canal since mid-October remains above normal levels, but canal authority officials say wait times are now diminishing since they started taking steps to expedite traffic through the waterway.

China’s Belt and Road initiative means opportunities for maritime and logistics players despite inherent risks with investing in some of the markets along the planned routes, according to top executives from three leading China-based logistics and port companies.

Mitsui-Soko Holdings Co., a major Japan transportation and logistics service provider, is poised to acquire Naha International Container Terminal Inc. in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, as part of its global expansion strategy.