International ports

Shippers and ocean carriers, left reeling from months-long congestion and berthing delays at India’s largest container port complex, Nhava Sheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust), are unlikely to get a break in the near future, as the port authority has been forced to push back an equipment modernization program by a month following delays in the arrival of new gantry cranes.

It's been called the final frontier for trade growth — the only place in the world where exponential economic and cargo growth is still possible and major trade is still evolving. Rising African container volumes are increasingly showing the limits of freight infrastructure on both the East and West African coasts, where ports are experiencing trouble dealing with the rise in ship calls and freight volume.

The port of Antwerp faces a total shutdown on Monday as dockers and other waterfront workers join a 24-hour nationwide strike that will also paralyze rail freight and air cargo traffic across Belgium.

EUROGATE Container Terminal Bremerhaven this week handled its 1 millionth standard rail container, as more intermodal trains served the German gateway this year than in 2013.

Terminal operator DP World said it will lock out dockworkers at Australia’s Port of Fremantle for 24 hours next week in the latest move in an increasingly bitter labor dispute.

The number of containers handled at major ports in India climbed 8.32 percent year-over-year from April through November, the first eight fiscal months, continuing an accelerating growth trend that leaves state-owned port authorities on track to meet annual throughput targets.

The Brazilian port of Manaus will invest R$97 million (US 37.4 million) in automation at one container terminal and at a general cargo facility and buy new equipment after receiving private use status, exempting it from certain labor rules.

Beneficial cargo owners are still navigating the perils of U.S. West Coast port congestion, as they attempt to bring inventory in for the spring season.

The Nigerian Ports Authority will turn to a task force to help identify root causes of congestion at the Lagos port complex as volumes continue to grow.

Foreign container throughput at Pearl River Delta ports grew 12.8 percent in November, the highest monthly growth in more than two years and putting, according to data reported by Citi Research on Monday.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. has lifted its congestion surcharge of $100 per TEU imposed earlier on shipments moving from Europe to Sohar, saying congestion at Oman's largest port is easing.

Officials celebrated the start of operations at Mumbai port’s new $300 million offshore container terminal with the arrival last week of the Hoegh Delhi, a roll-on, roll-off vessel.

Indian transport officials hope injecting Rs 1,755 crore (US $276.7 million) into a rail project and multi-purpose cargo terminal on the country’s east coast will help kick-start efforts to make cargo movements more efficient and reliable.

Concern that an equipment upgrade program announced by India’s largest container handler, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, is not proceeding on schedule has prompted local ship agents to seek another intervention with the port administration.

The port of Rotterdam will triple the discount on tariffs for deep-sea containers that are transshipped to other ports in Europe over the next three years in a move likely to trigger a response from its main rival Hamburg.

APM Terminals is eyeing expansion in Turkey to take advantage of container volume growth at the nation's Mediterranean and Black Sea ports.

Hamburg increased container traffic by 6.4 percent in the first three quarters, closing the gap with Rotterdam, the European market leader, and stretching its lead over third-ranked Antwerp.

The International Transport Workers' Federation is battling with the Panama Canal Authority, accusing the PCA of trying to shut down a tugboat captains' union in advance of the canal's expansion.

With worsening delays at the Port of Hamburg, port leaders are hoping that newly formed alliances will improve on-time arrivals while at the same time seeking ways to improve the flow of containers to and from the hinterland.

The port of Antwerp is at a standstill as dockers stage a 24-hour strike to protest the Belgian government’s austerity program aimed at reducing the country’s soaring national debt.

Construction on the controversial Nicaragua canal linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans will begin on Dec. 22 on the Pacific side, according to the government officials.

In an effort to reduce congestion caused by mega-vessels, the Port of Hamburg has launched an initiative to better coordinate the handling of the vessels — even before they make their way up the estuary of the Elbe river.

Peel Ports CEO Mark Whitworth says a $480 million container port rising along the river Mersey will provide the port of Liverpool with “a fantastic opportunity to take back its national market share.”

Terminal operator Gulftainer is a step closer to readying its Al-Sharjah Emirati terminal for mega-ships after it received $60 million of new crane equipment for the Khorfakkan Container Terminal.

A $1.5 billion expansion to Ghana's port of Tema will make it the largest port in West Africa and allow it to reduce congestion driven by robust growth, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) said.

The Panamanian government is keen to convince global terminal operator DP World to expand its footprint and help the country become an even larger transhipment hub when the expanded Panama Canal opens in early 2016.

The final shipment of gates for the new locks of the expanded Panama Canal arrived today, bringing the project that will allow for the passage of bigger vessels into its final stages.

A South African firm’s decision last month to build an $8.1 billion plant in Louisiana that will triple its chemical production capacity in the U.S. underscores widespread growth in U.S. chemicals manufacturing and in supporting logistics and transportation services.

The number of export and import containers moving through major ports in India expanded 7.34 percent year-over-year from April to October, the first seven fiscal months, as the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making port development a major priority.

Brazil's Special Ports Minister Cesar Borges has asserted that $1.095 billion) will be spent on the nation's ports sector before the end of 2015.

Rising freight rates, partly resulting from “turmoil” in the U.S. domestic supply chain, could increase the share transportation and logistics contributes to national GDP, hurting the country’s global competitiveness, said the author of well-read annual logistics report.

Customs agents striking in the Lagos-Apapa port complex could cause crippling congestion at the Nigeria’s largest gateway, the port said today.

The Panama Canal container shipping route has become the less-popular route for carriers sailing from Asia to the U.S. East Coast for the first time in history, according to new data from Drewry Maritime Research, with more than half of capacity in the trade sailing via the Suez Canal.

Brazil's port managers and unions are uniting to try to keep the country's Special Ports Ministry separate from the Ministry of Transport.

The port of Antwerp is soliciting proposals from companies interested in operating a liquefied natural gas bunkering station, in order to meet growing global demand for the alternative fuel.

Europe’s top container ports are hunkering down for a potentially tumultuous 2015 dominated by a growing capacity glut and slowing cargo growth that will make the congestion of the past year appear like a minor irritant.

Throughput at China’s major ports continued to show strong growth in October, rising 6.1 percent year-over-year in support of the robust U.S. economy and a steady increase in foreign trade.