North American ports

A new terminal slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2014 could be a game-changer for Port Canaveral’s container shipping market.

Containerized imports through the West Coast increased sharply in May. But not all ports are sharing equally in the rally that began with the post-Chinese New Year winter peak.

The South Carolina Ports Authority’s board of directors has approved a 2015 fiscal year plan that includes expectations of gains in container traffic.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission wants to ease congestion at ports and is considering hosting a forum for terminal operators and drayage drivers to discuss how to speed the movement of containerized goods at the gates.

U.S. shippers and port officials are still digesting the news of China’s rejection of the P3 alliance of the three largest container ship lines, and are wondering what happens next.

As larger ships bring bigger volumes to southern California, the Port of Los Angeles is outperforming Long Beach in terms of vessel arrivals and berth times, according to a recent CargoSmart newsletter.

The Port of New York and New Jersey's Port Newark Container Terminal is undergoing a major expansion that includes super-post-Panamax cranes, a jump in container lift capacity, double intermodal railyard capacity, and a 300-acre footprint.

The Port of Virginia handled 204,232 TEUs in May, up 6.7 percent year-over-year, marking the third-best month in the port’s history for container traffic.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has given preliminary approval to two incentives that aim to bring additional cargo to the port, following a slip in its container traffic and market share.

Three companies this month have announced investments in temperature-controlled facilities near the Port of Charleston.

The Los Angeles City Council today unanimously confirmed Gene Seroka as the new executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

TCI Plastics is expanding its petrochemicals bagging operation at the Port of New Orleans to more than triple the facility’s annual capacity to 68,000 20-foot-equivalent units of containers.

The trade community is looking to the negotiations in San Francisco to see if an agreement will be reached without disruptions at West Coast ports.

It’s still early, but there’s growing optimism that the Port of New York and New Jersey will make it through the next few months without a repeat of the gridlock that plagued the port last summer and winter.

President Barack Obama’s signing into law of major port legislation today is just one step toward the United States getting its maritime trade gateways up to snuff.

The Port of Portland today is all about growth.

Port Freeport is expanding its container-handling operations to meet expected growth in petrochemicals shipments.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex the past three years has increased its share of the container trade on the Pacific Coast of North America, indicating that the big ships carriers are deploying in the trans-Pacific are diverting cargo away from other ports on the coast.

Chiquita said it expects to move 60,000 to 78,000 TEUs a year through the Napoleon Avenue container terminal at New Orleans. The additional volume will boost New Orleans’ containerized volume by 10 to 15 percent.

Customs brokers and forwarders are asking the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission to create procedures to help them better handle potential work stoppages at U.S. West Coast ports.

U.S. Gulf ports are seeing the first wave of increased cargo volume from shale drilling.

The good news keeps rolling in for a fast-growing U.S. East Coast port: Savannah was picked as the gateway location for Dynacraft Bikes, one of the largest U.S. bike suppliers.

Either Portland has a bright future as a niche container port in the Pacific Northwest, or it will watch much of its business migrate to other ports in the region, depending upon how the International Longshore and Warehouse Union addresses the port’s flagging productivity.

Billions of dollars could be handed out to Miami, Port Everglades and Jacksonville in the next five years in an aggressive bid by Florida to capture a greater share of regional container cargo.

U.S. ports outpaced their Canadian rivals on the east coast of North America during the first quarter, with solid growth at Savannah helping the U.S. Southeast surpass other regions.

While it is still to be decided which of the finalists to be Long Beach mayor, Robert Garcia or Damon Dunn, will be elected by the voters on June 3, it is almost certain that the port city will have a different type of leader than outgoing Mayor Bob Foster.

The Senate’s vote for the Water Resources Reform and Development Act has sent the long-delayed port and waterway bill to President Obama for his likely signature.

The Port of Seattle has proposed relocating cargo activities at its second-largest terminal, the 172-acre Terminal 5, to make way for a modernization project that would make it ready for mega-ships.

The Georgia Ports Authority board this week approved $86.5 million to buy four new ship-to-shore cranes and 20 new rubber-tired gantry cranes to allow the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal to accommodate bigger ships and provide faster handling.

Rising capital needs in an era of carrier alliances and huge ships may force neighboring ports to put aside their differences and cooperate, said CEO James Newsome of the South Carolina Port Authority.

No one could confuse Port Freeport, Texas, with a large, mainline port with direct services by mega-ships capable of carrying 8,000 20-foot container units.

WASHINGTON — Soon-to-be enacted U.S. port legislation will inject a modicum of fairness into a port funding program that has split the industry since the Harbor Maintenance Tax was created in 1986. The result is a big win for West Coast ports that have seen billions in taxes collected from their imports support competitor ports.

WASHINGTON — It’s finally happened. Senate and House leaders have reached an agreement on long-delayed legislation that would authorize major port and inland waterway projects, speed up port deepening work and reform the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund. In other words, Congress is addressing some of shippers and transportation provider’s major concerns, including a lack of equity for donor ports and the diversion of Harbor Maintenance Tax dollars from ports.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which combined handle more than 40 percent of U.S. container trade, both reported double-digit monthly container import growth in April.

The Port of Long Beach yesterday presented environmental achievement awards to 22 shipping lines that participated this past year in programs that reduce vessel emissions.

Chiquita Brands International will shift its Gulfport, Mississippi, calls, and an estimated 60,000 to 78,000 20-foot-equivalent units annually, to New Orleans next year.

In a down market, U.S. ports outpaced their Canadian and Mexican rivals during the first quarter, with solid growth at Los Angeles offsetting a drop at neighboring Long Beach and lifting the Southern California port complex further above its competition.

John Reinhart wears nice suits, but not on Saturdays. That’s when the Virginia Port Authority’s CEO dons casual garb and roams the port’s container terminals.

An industry committee tackling congestion and other problems at the Port of New York and New Jersey is close to agreement on recommendations, but one potential solution — an appointment system for drayage drivers — faces stiff opposition from motor carriers.