North American ports

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has announced that 12 shipping lines and 448 vessels have enrolled in its Clean Vessel Incentive program since it launched on Jan. 1, 2013.

The Port of Long Beach cut diesel particulates by 81 percent between 2005 and 2012, according to an analysis prepared by Starcrest Consulting Group.

South Carolina Ports Authority reported its revenue in fiscal year 2013, ending June 30, 2013, was $140.49 million, up 7 percent year-over-year from $130.95 million.

Federal Marine Terminals will continue to provide terminal and stevedore services at the Port of Milwaukee, following a recently agreed upon lease renewal.

Marine terminal gates at the Port of Oakland were beginning to reopen at noon Monday following a morning-long blockade by owner-operator truck drivers protesting slow turn times at marine terminals.

Tampa Port Authority has signed a letter of intent with Green Express for the development of an on-dock transload and rail-served facility connecting the port to the Midwest.

This summer’s congestion at New York-New Jersey terminals has renewed talk of extended hours for terminal gates that normally operate weekdays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Changing Oakland’s reputation and making it the preferred port on the West Coast is the mission of newly appointed Executive Director Chris Lytle.

Global port activity as measured by The Journal of Commerce’s Top 50 container ports in 2012 demonstrates the importance of macroeconomic trends on container shipping. The fastest-growing ports last year were located in those regions with the most vibrant economies.

Port authorities should be preparing now for the demands they will make on local power grids as terminals automate their operations and shipping lines plug their vessels into shore-side electrical power while at berth.

Legislation being introduced by Washington state’s two U.S. senators to replace the Harbor Maintenance Tax with a new levy on U.S. containerized imports reflects a stark reality: Washington’s two container ports, Seattle and Tacoma, have for years been individually and collectively losing market share — mostly to Canadian west coast ports, where U.S.-bound containers aren’t assessed the HMT.

Baltimore U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have intercepted seven shipments of uncertified chicken skeletons from China.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex’s total container volume in July was 1.3 million 20-foot-equivalent units, rising 2.3 percent from 1.2 million TEUs in July 2012.

State and federal agencies are working to finalize a pilot program to bring grapes and blueberries from Peru and Uruguay into Florida’s Port Everglades and PortMiami, starting in October.

The Diamond State Port Corp., operator of Delaware’s Port of Wilmington, and Dole Foods have reached an agreement in principle by which Dole will continue to use the Port of Wilmington...

Mazda North American Operators has become the Port of Baltimore’s newest auto customer after agreeing to a five-year contract with auto processor Amports...

Import volume at major U.S. retail container ports is expected to rise 1.7 percent month-over-month in August, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker...

Drayage companies in the Port of New York and New Jersey are asking container lines to waive per-diem charges for late return of containers and chassis to congested terminals, and are threatening to challenge per-diem bills caused by the terminals’ delays.

The Port of Virginia is experiencing an influx of rail cargo at Norfolk International Terminals and APM Terminals in Portsmouth as a result of peak season volume...

Regarding the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s lawsuit against Oregon’s Port of Portland, the port has responded that at “no time” did it deny access to its public records.

Gulf States Cold Storage has opened a 100,000 square foot cold storage facility serving the Port of Savannah.

This summer’s delays at New York-New Jersey’s container terminals are spurring the port’s diverse factions to work together on short-term and long-term solutions to difficult issues, Rick Larrabee, director of port commerce at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said.

The Port of Seattle Commission has approved $267.7 million for the State Route 99 Alaska Way Viaduct Replacement Program.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has filed a lawsuit against the Port of Portland, Ore., alleging numerous ongoing violations of the Oregon Public Records Act.

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners today approved a new port master plan, updating the Port of Los Angeles’s development policies and procedures for the first time in more than three decades.

A program to require radio-frequency identification tags on trucks serving container terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey will go into effect Aug. 19.

The Port of Baltimore’s public marine terminals handled a record 9.55 million tons of general cargo in fiscal year 2013, from July 2012 through June 2013...

The Port of Tacoma in Washington has hired Dustin Stoker to direct its new operations center.

Ocean carriers, struggling to make a profit in the face of overcapacity and declining freight rates, are taking dramatic and sometimes unexpected actions to slash costs. In this environment of frenzied cost-cutting, the proprietary container terminal operated for a single shipping line is becoming an endangered species.

ExpressRail, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s rail system that serves the port’s marine terminals, has handled its 5 millionth container since it opened in 1991.

The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has plans to consider the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 when Congress returns from its August recess in September...

The planned two-berth terminal at Southport in South Philadelphia, which will have an estimated cost of $300 million to $400 million, will have a target capacity of 750,000 20-foot-equivalent container units annually when fully built out. Together with the 450,000-TEU Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, Southport will give the Port of Philadelphia total capacity of some 1.2 million TEUs.

South Jersey Port Corp. is building a large new bulk and breakbulk terminal on two brownfield sites totaling 180 acres where a BP liquid bulk terminal and a Dow Chemical plant once stood.

A coalition representing environmental and community groups and the Teamsters union has filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate a permit to raise the Bayonne Bridge in the Port of New York and New Jersey until a more thorough environmental study is done.

Two months of operational delays are straining the capacity and finances of drayage operators throughout the Port of New York and New Jersey. Carl Frederick, co-owner of Container Transport Services, said he's never seen anything quite like it.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., have introduced Senate and House bills to allow local governments to ban high-polluting trucks from ports.

Port of Oakland executives are stepping up their efforts to reduce the congestion at marine terminals that has made life miserable for harbor truckers during much of July.