Port News

The DP World Caucedo transshipment hub in the Dominican Republic is moving forward with upgrades to accommodate the larger vessels that will be able to traverse the expanded Panama Canal next year and provide shippers with more warehouse capacity.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced the acquisition of a minority stake in Turkish port operator, Global Ports Holding, just weeks after a near $1 billion Chinese investment in the country’s waterfront.

The Indian federal government is retreating from a controversial “corporatization” plan to transform ‘major’, or public, port trusts into independent companies following stiff opposition from labor unions and some political groups, dealing a big blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reform efforts to stimulate trade and economic growth.

The delicate balance that industrial real estate developers in Southern California’s Inland Empire hope to achieve between expansion of the warehouse and logistics sector and the desire of local communities to cap traffic congestion and pollution has come to a head with a proposed 2,600-acre project in Moreno Valley, California.

If other ports reduced harmful diesel emissions by as much as 90 percent since 2005 like Los Angeles and Long Beach have, many of them would say enough already and would be happy with their accomplishments. The Southern California ports, however, are planning ahead for even stricter emissions goals for 2023 and beyond.

The Port of Barcelona has announced a deal with Hutchison Port Holdings to extend the current 30-year concession HPH holds for operating Barcelona Europe South Terminal by 15 years in exchange for the operator investing $6.5 billion in automation to boost productivity, according to local newspapers.

A study of ways to improve waterborne freight transport across New York harbor has narrowed preferred options to either an improved railcar barge “float” system or an underwater freight tunnel between New Jersey and Brooklyn.

A university professor thinks he may have found a solution for saving a project to dredge the channel into the port of Santos to 17 meters, or 56 feet, and also the town’s prestigious beaches from erosion as a result of that dredging.

The Port of Oakland reported record operating revenue for the fiscal year that ended June 30, even though the volume of loaded containers passing through the port declined 6.5 percent due to work slowdowns and terminal congestion experienced during the year-long coastwide longshore contract negotiations.

The long-stalled Phase 2-4 of the Busan New Port is getting back in motion with the submission of applications to begin reclamation works, South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) announced Thursday.

West Coast ports rode a wave of Asian imports in August to take back market share they had lost to East Coast ports during the year-long labor issues associated with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract negotiations.

The spot rate for shipping a container from New York to Rotterdam fell slightly for the week ending Sept. 25, but continued to hold relatively steady after a nearly 31 percent drop in late August, according to the World Container Index.

The Georgia Ports Authority plans $142 million in capital spending on cranes, empty-container storage, a new terminal gate, and other infrastructure and equipment during its 2016 fiscal year.

James T. McDermott Jr., executive director of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority since 1994, said he will retire effective next April 15.

Shippers using Port Botany and reeling from the impacts of labor strife in August took another blow as the facility was shut down Wednesday due to wild weather.

The government of China has begun to punish port service providers who overcharge for services, giving teeth to a previously announced measure prohibiting excessive port fees in a bid to boost slumping trade volumes.

As a concession to the owners of the established port terminals and to encourage them to invest more in their container terminals, Brazil’s Special Ports Ministry has been negotiating to extend the concession periods before the contracts require.

The Port of Long Beach announcement last week that the $93 million Green Port Gateway rail project had been completed was yet another step forward in a multi-year effort by the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles to invest well over $1 billion to expand rail infrastructure at the largest U.S. port complex.

Florida’s Port Tampa Bay joins the ranks of other U.S. Southeast ports that will soon be able to handle direct imports of select cold-treated produce from South America, bringing new business to the Sunshine State and cutting logistics costs for produce shippers.

John E. Walsh, who launched an ambitious expansion program but this month apologized for referring to local opponents of a rail line project as “Luddites," is being forced out as CEO of Port Canaveral. His last day will be Jan. 21.

India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, which has been hit hard by a series of labor and other disruptions in the past few months, is turning things around with more intermodal services and the introduction of other proactive steps.

Drayage truck drivers are leaving the industry in droves and it’s not just terminal congestion and poor pay that’s driving them out, say industry experts.

A coalition of truckers, cargo interests and trade organizations is preparing to ask the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission to restrict charges for late pickup or delivery of containers

The Federation of Ship Agents’ Association of India, representing ocean carrier agents, claims APM Terminals-operated Gateway Terminals India may be violating its concession contract with the port authority, causing off-and-on labor disruptions at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, India’s biggest container gateway.

Container volumes at the Port of Savannah rose 4.4 percent in August from the same period in 2014, an indication that the torrid pace of 10 to 27 percent year-over-year growth rates experienced in previous months could moderate as shippers return to the West Coast.

The head of the Pacific Maritime Association raised the possibility of a contract extension or an early start to the next round of West Coast longshore contract talks, and said current bargaining practices are “not sustainable.”

The Bolloré Group plans to spend $120 million to octuple the annual capacity of its container terminal in the port of Freetown, Sierra Leone, to 750,000 twenty-foot equivalents after volume rose 30 percent over the last four years.

Organizers of a planned universal pool of interchangeable chassis at the Port of New York and New Jersey say they’re moving closer to completing a devilishly complex job that’s dragged on for more than a year.

China’s top 20 container ports have handled more than 120 million TEUs this year until the end of August, but slowing export demand has seen little growth across most of the major ports including several year-over-year volume declines.

In a followup to its earlier directives, India’s biggest container handler, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, has set Dec. 31 as the date by which shipping lines and related stakeholders should set up a paperless system for issuing import delivery orders to cargo interests.

Mokpo port has chosen South Korean logistics companies CJ Korea Express and Dongbang Co., along with port operator Mokpo New Port, to operate a vehicle terminal completed in July, according to the Mokpo Regional Oceans and Fisheries Administration Office.

Volume through the Northwest Seaport Alliance of Seattle and Tacoma rose at double-digit clip, the latest potential sign that importers are returning to the West Coast amid peak season.

In a move that will be temporarily disruptive but is aimed at addressing the port's truck bottleneck, the Port of Virginia will close a chassis yard next week

Mediterranean Shipping Co. has acquired a 45 percent stake in the Trieste Marine Terminal as the 2M Alliance positions itself to capitalize on a European Union infrastructure initiative known as the TEN-T.

Finland’s ports and rail freight trains are at a standstill as workers participate in the biggest nationwide strike since 1993 to protest the government’s latest austerity measures.

Florida’s ports of Jacksonville and Manatee will begin handling direct imports of select cold-treated produce from South America next month, bringing new business to the Sunshine State and cutting logistics costs for produce shippers.

Container volume growth at the Port of Charleston slowed to 4 percent last month, following several months of double-digit increases and reflecting difficult comparisons with a then-record August 2014.

China, Japan, and South Korea are expanding an initiative aimed at sharing information, particularly warnings of danger, following the deadly explosions that rocked Tianjin port last month.

China’s two largest port operators Cosco Pacific and China Merchants Holdings (International) and a third investor have paid close to $1 billion for a controlling stake in a Turkish container terminal, marking the latest giant investment in the mainland’s ambitious One Belt, One Road trade strategy.