North American ports

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex began 2013 with a strong showing as the total container volume increased 5 percent over January 2012.

Port Corpus Christi in Texas has promoted Ruben C. Medina to director of business development, under the supervision of the deputy port director of operations and business development.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline has denied environmental groups’ request to block construction on the Port Mackenzie Rail Extension, a 32-mile link from the mainline of the Alaska Railroad...

The Port of Philadelphia handled 4.4 million metric tons of cargo in 2012, a 10.4 percent increase compared with 4.0 million metric tons handled in 2011.

The Port of Seattle commission has announced the finalists for the commission vacancy.

Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal has appointed Robert “Rusty” Barkerding Jr. as the newest member of the Port of New Orleans’ board of commissioners.

The Port of Milwaukee reported a decline in total cargo tonnage in 2012 because of winter weather that led to smaller volumes of salt and coal arriving at the port.

California’s Port of San Diego will release its final Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Port Capital Improvement Project, an environmental document relating to the proposed shore power project at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, on Feb. 12 at its monthly board of port commissioner’s meeting.

U.S. Representatives Janice Hahn, D-Calif., and Ted Poe, R-Texas, will receive the American Association of Port Authorities’ “Port Persons of the Year” award during the association’s annual spring conference...

At the end of last week, the International Longshoremen’s Association and United States Maritime Alliance tentatively agreed on a six-year master contract, averting a threatened Maine-to-Texas strike following the current contract’s expiration at midnight Feb. 6.

Privatizing the Virginia Port Authority would be a mistake, said J. Robert “Bobby” Bray, who oversaw Hampton Roads’ growth into a major container port during 29 years as VPA executive director.

Energy company Kinder Morgan has outlined a potential plan for investments in the Port of Wilmington, Del., in the event of a long-term lease agreement with the port’s owner, Diamond State Port.

Container volumes at West Coast ports increased 4 percent in December, but 2012 overall was a lackluster year as the total of import and export containers increased only 2 percent from 2011.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, has awarded a $41.4 million contract to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. to deepen the Arthur Kill channel.

The inland Port of West Sacramento, Calif., has released a request for interest to identify potential business partners to lease or operate the port’s cargo facilities and to lease, purchase or develop port-owned real estate.

North Carolina State Ports Authority has appointed Jeff Miles as acting executive director, effective immediately.

The announcement that Mediterranean Shipping Co. will invest in the Total Terminals International facility at the Port of Long Beach comes barely one month after the port announced that CMA CGM is taking an equity stake in the Pacific Container Terminal that is operated by SSA Marine.

Port of Tacoma, Wash., has hired Tom Bellerud to lead container terminal business development.

Mediterranean Shipping Company has increased its investment at the Port of Long Beach, according to J. Christopher Lytle, the port’s executive director, in his “State of the Port” announcement.

Workers at the Port of Albany in New York have been loading housing modules onto freighters bound for St. John’s, Newfoundland, for an Exxon/Mobil-led offshore drilling project there, which has boosted the port’s traffic...

A team of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies began maritime safety and security operations on the lower Mississippi River today to support Super Bowl XLVII.

The Georgia Ports Authority reported container tonnage in December 2012 was 1.76 million tons, increasing 4.2 percent year-over-year.

Port of Tacoma, Wash., handled 1.7 million 20-foot-equivalent units in 2012, making it the best year since 2008.

The Alabama State Port Authority reported revenue was a record $144.6 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012.

The Alabama State Port Authority’s board of directors has approved two measures that advance the development of the port’s new intermodal container transfer facility.

The Environmental Defense Fund recently worked with stakeholders to develop a recognition program for top performing ports and terminals in terms of air quality, in an effort to reduce air pollution and drive efficiency.

Port of Everett in Washington has announced that Karen Clements, the port’s CFO, will retire in September.

Port Everglades in Florida was ranked as the top exporting foreign trade zone in the U.S. for warehousing and distribution activity in 2011, according to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board’s 73rd annual report to Congress released this month.

Major East Coast container ports are likely to come under the type of environmental pressure West Coast ports have faced for years when the Panama Canal completes its new locks.

Florida’s Governor Rick Scott broke ground this week on Port Everglades’ intermodal container transfer facility.

In fiscal year 2011, the cargo and vessel activity at the Port of Mobile contributed an estimated $22.3 billion in economic value to the state of Alabama, according to an economic impact study prepared by John C. Martin Associates.

Naviera Master Line de Venezuela, a division of Miami-based Master Line Shipping Company, has selected Port Manatee in Florida for a new container and breakbulk service to Caribbean and Central and South American locations.

For 2013, Port of Hueneme’s board of commissioners elected commissioners Jason Hodge as president, Mary Anne Rooney as vice president and Jess Herrera as secretary.

Port Everglades in Florida has hired Fred Stribling as assistant director of business development, according to Steven Cernak, the port’s chief executive and director.

Port of Portland, Ore., reported total tonnage in 2012 through the port was 12.4 million tons, down 7.7 percent from 13.4 million tons in 2011.

East Coast ports maintained their lead in containerized exports in the first nine months of 2012 and increased their share of import and export markets. And they did so despite shipper concerns at the end of September over a potential strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association and a related shift of some cargo to ports on the West Coast and Canada.