Port News

Port Itapoa is expecting an 11 percent jump in container traffic this year, thanks to robust chicken and beef exports to China, new services and better road connections.

For most ports on the U.S. West Coast, late 2014 and early 2015 was a year of seemingly-unending congestion and slumping cargo traffic. Not so at California’s Port of Hueneme, which just reported its highest cargo year in its 78-year history.

Woo Ye-jong has been tapped to lead the Port of Busan in its effort to become an even larger transshipment hub, succeeding Lim Ki-tack who has been elected as the International Maritime Organization's next secretary-general.

Two container ships at Port Klang, Malaysia, collided, sending containers and debris into the harbor.

Contship Italia, Italy’s largest container terminal operator, has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Sina Port and Marine, Iran’s biggest port company, to take advantage of moves by the U.S. and the EU to ease sanctions following the nuclear deal with Tehran.

After bleeding market share in the first few months of 2015 because of congestion and labor problems, the Seattle-Tacoma gateway appears to be leveling off in the competitive Pacific Northwest. Port Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, is likewise leveling off, but Prince Rupert continues to register impressive double-digit gains compared to last year.

A new joint venture between DP World and Toll Logistics in Sydney, Australia, could provide a container shuttle out of Port Botany and slash exports of empty boxes.

Five firms, three joint ventures and two single companies, are aiming to win a concession to modernize Davao Sasa, a major gateway for Philippines exports, particularly bananas.

Work on the New Port Project at Al Wakrah, Qatar, is rapidly progressing towards completion as the small Gulf nation seeks an alternative to the congested existing port.

Oman International Container Terminal operated by Hutchison Port Holdings, will quadruple capacity to 6 million 20-foot-equivalent units, to capitalize on the recent closure of the Port Sultan Qaboos, Muscat.

The Port of Miami posted double-digit container volume growth in June, a testament to the port’s concerted effort to boost organic growth and preserve business diverted from the U.S. West Coast during the port congestion crisis in late 2014 and early 2015.

State-owned Container Corporation of India is expanding its intermodal services connecting the country’s southeastern container ports, beginning its second rail service to a southeastern port in as many months.

Long Beach Container Terminal, which will open a terminal early next year the Port of Long Beach has billed as the world’s greenest container terminal, received the Mayor’s Green Port award Wednesday at ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Long Beach Green Port program.

Officials at Khalifa bin Salman Port in Hidd, Bahrain, predict a structural shift in the size of the Bahraini cargo market and forecast a dramatic increase in container throughput to 500,000 20-foot-equivalent units this year because of growth in government-led infrastructure and construction schemes.

Port Canaveral this week broke ground on what will soon be the port’s first multimodal inland facility, part of the Florida port’s ongoing campaign to snag container traffic from other U.S. East Coast ports.

Brazil could see yet another major container terminal rise in the south of the country, benefiting shippers but ratcheting up the already fierce competition between the eight existing terminals already operating in the region and the six in the Port of Santos, only 202 nautical miles north.

While politicians wrangle over the Greek debt crisis and economists speculate on the lasting impact to the European and global economy, a decision on who controls a container quay miles away from Athens could reshape European supply chains.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners Monday elected Lori Ann Farrell Harrison as its new president. The commission president chairs board meetings and represents the port before the public.

Los Angeles-Long Beach is moving slowly toward a dual system of drayage in which some drivers are becoming unionized employees, while others prefer to remain independent contractors. Eventually, the result could be a sufficient pool of drivers to serve the 13 container terminals in the largest U.S. port complex, resulting in service and pricing consistency for the shippers that depend on harbor drivers.

The Port of Townsville is set to receive a $403 million berth upgrade that will allow the northeastern Australian port to handle Panamax vessels, highlighting the movement of the majority of Australia’s trade from its southern to its northern ports.

Russia aims to septuple container volume through Crimean ports by spending more than $100 million on terminals and reducing tariffs on shipments to the region that has been a geopolitical flashpoint since its annexation.

All of the major public ports in India will soon set up a green channel for the clearance of coastal cargo, another initiative by the Narendra Modi-led government to reduce supply chain bottlenecks.

California’s Freight Advisory Committee met Tuesday in Sacramento to begin the process of implementing Gov. Jerry Brown’s executive order to develop a statewide sustainable freight policy that will transition ports, motor carriers, railroads and other transportation modes toward zero emissions.

The Port of New York and New Jersey's container volume during the first half of 2015 rose 13.4 percent from a year earlier, putting the East Coast's largest port on pace to exceed its record 2014 volume.

DP World posted a 4.2 percent increase in container traffic in the first half of the year, driven largely by strong growth at its terminals in Europe and the United Arab Emirates.

Brasil Terminal Portuário handled its one-millionth container Friday from the MSC Agrigento, the thousandth vessel to call at the Santos terminal since it opened 20 months ago.

The Port Authority of New York has agreed to several antipollution measures while it continues work on future phases of a program to replace older trucks at the East Coast’s largest port. But environmentalists aren’t content.

Labor and port opposition to legislation that would require U.S. ports to provide monthly productivity reports have stripped out what is the arguably the crux of the bill: productivity reports during negotiations with unionized port labor.

Container trade at Russian seaports continues to decline as the first half of 2015 saw container traffic in Russia’s maritime basins decline anywhere from 12 to 32 percent year-over-year.

Minor ports in India continue to rapidly gain market share on their major public rivals, thanks to aggressive marketing efforts and cargo diversions, with the newest data obtained by JOC.com showing so-called non-major cargo terminals recorded double-digit year-over-year container growth fiscal year 2014-15, which ended March 31.

As the container trade from Asia to the Middle East grows, Saudi Arabia is expanding the container-handling capacity of its ports, opening a new terminal at Dammam this spring.

All sectors of the Southern California transportation community are confident that they will handle the spike in container volume this peak season, but longer-term challenges with big ships, carrier alliances, truck turn times and rail performance remain a concern.

Two months after the International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract was approved by the membership of the union and the Pacific Maritime Association, the Port of Oakland is a mess, with an acute shortage of labor causing extensive delays for truckers and shippers, resulting in cargo diversions to Southern California.

Winds in excess of 60 miles per hour at the Port of Cape Town have led to delays in berthing vessels for the better part of a week.

Embraport in the Port of Santos has seen its prospects improve with the addition of regular rail service, adding a new dynamic to the lively competition for container traffic taking place in the country.

State and federal officials in Virginia broke ground on two major projects this week aimed at relieving congestion at the state port after delays hit near-unprecedented levels earlier this year.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and World Customs Organization gave a boost to Bangladesh’s efforts to reduce illegal shipping activities with the implementation of a container screening program’ at Chittagong Port, the country’s largest.

Hard to believe, but true: Just three and a half years ago, International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett was in Long Beach, warning the JOC’s Trans-Pacific Maritime conference about “dark clouds” over 2012’s soon-to-begin ILA contract negotiations.