Port News

The Port of Gothenburg’s container traffic declined by 2 percent in 2015 in contrast to a 3 percent increase in total freight handled by the largest Scandinavian cargo hub.

The International Longshoremen's Association's strike at Port of New York and New Jersey was aimed primarily at Waterfront Commission, but what did the union hope to accomplish?

The Georgia Ports Authority grew import volumes through Savannah at rates far exceeding its Southeast competitors and the U.S. as a whole, in large part by attracting big-box retailers such as Home Depot, Target and IKEA to establish import distribution centers nearby. But forces coming to bear on the retail industry, including e-commerce and a relentless need to drive out costs, are changing the picture at Savannah.

The Port of Oakland Board of Port Commissioners renewed a project labor agreement that will increase hiring in the region for port-related capital projects.

New York-New Jersey port terminals began resuming operations Friday night after a wildcat strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association.

Australia’s Qube Holdings has upped the ante in its quest for full control of Patrick, Oceania’s largest stevedore and terminal operator, after saying it was willing to pay $1.9 billion.

Container terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey were idled Friday morning when International Longshoremen’s Association workers walked off the job.

Authorities at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s busiest, public container gateway, aim to comply with the new container weight verification rules that are set to take effect July 1 by establishing a system to weigh containers within its normal yard operations.

The main ports of China’s Yangtze River Delta will introduce compulsory emissions reduction requirements from April 1 this year with non-compliant ships potentially facing fines of up to $15,000 under national air pollution laws.

A Port of Oakland efficiency task force pledged this week to work toward consistent truck wait times at container terminals of no more than 45 minutes for a single transaction and 90 minutes for a dual transaction, compared to wait times of two hours or longer that some truckers say they regularly experience.

Container throughput at APM Terminals-operated Gujarat Pipavav Port fell 9.2 percent year-over-year in the third fiscal quarter, but was up by 21 percent from the prior quarter, according to a company filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Investment in India’s port infrastructure will reach $2.1 billion in fiscal 2015-16 and add 162 million tonnes (179 million tons) per annum of new capacity to the country’s 12 largest ports, according to the country’s Ministry of Shipping.

India’s largest container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), handled 4.48 million TEU in 2015, representing growth of just 0.1 percent, as the port struggled with labor and congestion issues for much of the year.

DP World CEO Mohammed Sharaf is retiring after a storied career in which he oversaw the terminal operator’s transformation from a regional to a global player.

The Port of Liverpool has gained a new service, increasing shippers’ access to central and northern U.K., Ireland, Portugal, Morocco, Spain and the Canary Islands.

Localfrio Logistica, owner of the container storage facility at the Port of Santos where a fire recently broke out and temporarily closed a container terminal, has been hit with fines totaling 10.149 million reais ($2.51 million).

North American ports would most likely be dealing with congestion issues today even without the onslaught of mega-ships, because growing container volumes are taxing the port and intermodal infrastructure, the president and CEO of the Americas for Hyundai Merchant Marine said Tuesday.

Hong Kong slid to fifth place in the global port rankings after another dismal year of declining volumes, with the east Chinese port of Ningbo-Zhoushan stepping into fourth spot.

Eurogate’s container volume shrank by 2 percent in 2015 as lower Italian traffic offset increased shipments at its domestic German terminals.

International Container Transshipment Terminal, or Vallarpadam Terminal, at the Port of Cochin riding high since the addition of the intra-Asia Galex service last year, has upgraded its connectivity with a new, weekly intra-India feeder service.

Greek ports will be brought to a standstill by a 48-hour strike tomorrow, the second two day walkout in two weeks.

Colombo International Container Terminal more than doubled its container throughput in 2015 as investment in capability to handle the world’s largest container vessels appears to be paying off.

La Spezia Container Terminal in Italy saw its Asia focus continuing to pay off in 2015, with container volume rising 8 percent year-over-year and helping take its parent Contship Italia Group to a throughput of 6.3 million 20-foot-equivalent units for the year.

Two large chemical plants in Tianjin will be relocated at a cost of $4.4 billion this year after the conclusion of safety checks that began after deadly explosions tore through the north China port in August.

The port of Savannah finished 2015 with record volume, including a 20.4 percent increase in full import containers, but Georgia Ports Authority CEO Curtis Foltz said growth is likely to slow this year.

Four container terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey will remain closed for a second day as the U.S. Northeast dug out after a weekend winter storm buried the region with two or more feet of snow.

Jawaharal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest container handler, last week more than doubled its refrigerated cargo-handling capacity when it opened a new reefer site in the harbor.

The Panama Canal Authority is shooting to open its third set of larger locks that can handle post-Panamax ships in May, but it doesn’t expect the larger locks to attract new services for several months.

A month-long industrial unrest in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, spearheaded by some employees at DP World-operated Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal over demands tied to wage increases and better working conditions, was settled over the weekend, allowing restoration of normal operations at India’s biggest container gateway.

The owner of a container terminal in Brazil plans to pick the top three bidders in the first week of February and request firm offers after receiving 10 non-binding proposals.

The pending departure of Ports America and its joint-venture partner Terminal Investment Ltd. from Oakland will give the port an opportunity to more efficiently utilize its terminal assets and possibly to re-purpose land for non-container uses, executive director Chris Lytle said Thursday.

Some port terminals on the U.S. North Atlantic Coast are revising their operating hours in preparation for Winter Storm Jonas, which is expected to hit the East Coast with heavy snow on Saturday.

After near-unprecedented congestion rocked the Port of Virginia in 2015, the 50-foot-deep port says it’s ready to handle brisk volume growth coming via the larger vessels soon to move through the expanded Panama Canal — and do so efficiently.

Throughput at China’s top container ports expanded in 2015 but figures show a trend of slowing growth amid softer global demand for Chinese-made goods and macroeconomic uncertainty.

The Panama Canal Authority is betting its future on more than a third set of massive new locks that can handle post-Panamax ships and attract more container services. It is counting on construction of a large new container terminal that will serve as a transshipment hub for North and South America and the creation of a new logistics zone along the canal that will attract assembly and light manufacturing activity.

International container traffic in the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma increased 8.4 percent in December from December 2014, driven primarily by strong exports.

The Port of Long Beach is guiding more than $4 billion in investments that will keep the second-largest U.S. container port nimble so it can respond to shifts in global manufacturing and trade patterns, pending mergers among ocean carriers and the arrival of the biggest vessels to call in North America, the port’s CEO Jon Slangerup said in his State of the Port address.

The rate of container cargo traffic decline at Russian seaports is slowing but still remains high, with volume plummeting by 25.1 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the Russian Association of Commercial Seaports.

Gate operations at Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal, which took a hit due to the abrupt disruption earlier this week, have picked up speed over the past two days, according to the latest update from terminal operator DP World Nhava Sheva.

APM Terminals has finalized an agreement to establish a joint venture that will invest over $200 million in upgrading and expanding a container terminal in Cartagena, Colombia’s largest port.