Port News

After a flat January, container volume surged by double digits at the Port of Virginia in February, partly thanks to favorable comparisons to last year.

Bobby Olvera, recognized by employers for his aggressive leadership of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 13 in Southern California and by fellow longshoremen for his fierce defense of the waterfront contract, was re-elected this week as president of the largest ILWU local.

Container traffic at Gulftainer grew 4 percent year-over-year in 2015, as a strong performance at its two United Arab Emirate facilities helped keep volume growth steady despite weakness in the European and Chinese markets.

Container traffic in Los Angeles last month reached a record high for the month of February at the largest U.S. port, and the strong growth of 42 percent over February 2015 could indicate that 2016 will exceed earlier projections of modest growth this year in the trans-Pacific trades. Neighboring Long Beach’s reaching record monthly volume in February further buoys optimism for import demand.

The Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor has subpoenaed numerous longshoremen in an effort to identify the organizers and cause of a Jan. 29 wildcat strike that idled the East Coast’s busiest port.

In an effort to spur trade and economic growth, the government of India has lifted some of the current cabotage provisions that prevent foreign-flag ocean carriers from transporting containers between domestic gateway ports.

Japan’s government is now making final preparations to acquire a significant equity stake in the company operating the ports of Yokohama and Kawasaki in Kanagawa Prefecture to help buoy its international competitiveness.

Global Ports’ container traffic slumped 31 percent and revenue sank 28 percent in 2015 as Russia’s contracting economy and the ruble’s slide continued to take its toll on the nation’s largest port operator.

Norfolk Southern Railway is enhancing its twice-weekly intermodal rail service connecting the Port of Charleston and Charlotte, North Carolina, to five times a week to meet rising freight demand, the South Carolina Ports Authority announced Thursday.

DP World on Thursday said it received the necessary go-ahead from the union government of India to restructure its business interests in the country.

The majority of workers involved in drayage operations at International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam, in India’s Cochin Port walked off the job Thursday morning, disrupting freight movements to and from the DP World facility, local shipping sources told JOC.com.

The busiest container port in Australia, Melbourne, is now on the market after the Victoria state parliament passed legislation allowing its sale.

China Merchants Holdings International is planning to invest in around 10 more overseas ports as the state-owned company continues its ongoing global expansion and implementation of China’s Belt and Road strategy.

The Port of Long Beach last month recorded the busiest February in its 105-year history, and as an added bonus, inaugurated a new era of trans-Pacific shipping with the arrival of the CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, the largest vessel ever to call in North America with a capacity of 18,000 20-foot container units.

European cargo terminal operators have once again said their national governments are not doing enough to clarify regulations requiring all containers to be weighed before they are loaded onto ships.

LONG BEACH, California — For beneficial cargo owners, the marine terminal used to be a big black hole that their containers would fall into and somehow magically emerge a few days later. Today, BCOs are an extension of the operations staff at the most successful ports.

Container traffic at the Port of Baltimore jumped 12 percent year-over-year in January, after the Maryland port saw volume rise 8 percent year-over-year last year to a record 523,848 containers.

Rotterdam has unveiled a 275 million euro ($302 million) project to re-route 2.5 miles of rail freight track away from a bridge in the port so that shipping and rail traffic “will cease to get in each other’s way.”

MENA Infrastructure, a fund manager and equity investor in Middle East infrastructure, said it divested its 30.3 percent stake in Egypt’s Alexandria International Container Terminals to Hong Kong’s Hutchison Port Holdings for an undisclosed sum.

APM Terminals has completed the $1 billion acquisition of Spain’s Grup Maritim TCB, boosting its annual container volume by 2 million 20-foot equivalent units and consolidating its position as the world’s second-largest terminal operator.

Importers and exporters will benefit as container terminals in North America are automated because automation will result in “reliable productivity” for beneficial cargo owners, according to a marine engineer.

Several dozen drayage operators have signed up for the latest program to replace the Port of New York and New Jersey’s oldest trucks with newer, less-polluting models, and officials are trying to persuade others to follow suit.

A strong dollar took a big chunk out of exports at major U.S. gateways in 2015. Most of the U.S. ports that handle more than 50,000 20-foot-equivalent units recorded declines in export volume, according to preliminary data from PIERS, a sister product of JOC.com within IHS.

The Rotterdam Port Authority’s profit declined last year even as traffic at Europe’s largest port hit an all-time high.

International Container Terminal Services saw net income and revenue fall during 2015 despite a 5 percent rise in throughput at its global terminal operations.

Whether it’s the growing presence of mega-ships at U.S. ports, the proliferation of mandatory appointment systems at marine terminals or the transfer of carrier-owned chassis to equipment leasing firms, harbor trucking companies are paying a price for decisions made by other members of the transportation supply chain.

Shippers in the Brazilian market should prepare for unrest as labor unions in the Port of Santos, South America’s largest port for containers, protest employment changes throughout the harbor.

India’s state-owned major ports booked a 2.6 percent increase in container volumes in the first 11 fiscal months compared with the same period the prior fiscal year, the newest provisional port figures collected by JOC.com show.

Djibouti Ports & Free Zones Authority expects throughput at Doraleh Container Terminal to expand by 3 percent in 2016 to just over 861,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units, driven primarily by increasing domestic consumption in Ethiopia and Djibouti.

With U.S. West Coast ports facing increasing productivity challenges as more mega-ships call their docks, it’s abundantly clear that labor stability is essential if the ports want to keep, and grow, their share of U.S. imports.

U.S. ports are supposed to steadily gain more federal funding each year, but a strong U.S. dollar could stymie Congress’ framework for providing more money for dredging and jetty maintenance.

Mundra, a privately-operated, minor cargo complex with modern infrastructure and ample hinterland connectivity, is emerging as an attractive port call for major container lines operating to and from India.

Thursday’s announcement by CMA CGM that beginning in May the carrier’s Pearl River Express service will operate each week with mega-ships carrying up to 18,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units sent West Coast ports into a frenzy of preparatory efforts.

Drayage operators say container lines’ continuing influence over chassis lowers efficiency at ports and is an obstacle to the creation of truck appointment systems at marine terminals.

The rise in refrigerated cargo shipments is good news for major container ports, including the Port of Charleston. In an interview with Cool Cargoes Editor Lara L. Sowinski, Jim Newsome, president and CEO of South Carolina Ports Authority, shares his perspective on what it takes to accommodate reefer cargo and how the SCPA is positioning itself to capitalize on the future growth of this specialized cargo.

The Port of New York and New Jersey’s full containerized imports rose 5 percent in January despite a blizzard, a wildcat strike, and tough comparisons with January 2015, when volume spiked amid West Coast port delays.

Despite slowing global trade and off-and-on labor disruptions as well as other infrastructure woes, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest public container handler, will most likely surpass its annual 2014-15 record throughput of 4.47 million 20-foot-equivalent units in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, an analysis of the newest port figures collected by JOC.com show.

Harbor trucking appears to be evolving into a two-model system. The independent-contractor model is best suited for entrepreneurial drivers who are comfortable with a high-risk, high-reward environment, while other drivers prefer the security of an hourly wage and guaranteed benefits.

The frequent congestion and longshore labor flare-ups at the New York-New Jersey port are putting a renewed focus on Montreal as an alternative gateway for goods, particularly those from Europe destined for the U.S. interior.

Pursuit of supply chain visibility is a continuous process that is growing more difficult to do well in a world of increasingly complex and globalized supply chains.