Port News

Congestion and delays at U.S. West Coast ports meant UPS had to scramble to get containerized goods into its inland delivery network and to customers. Higher purchased transportation costs were a factor in lower fourth-quarter earnings.

Marine terminals at the Port of New York and New Jersey, the largest East Coast container port, will close early today and remain closed Tuesday as the entire Northeast braces for a winter storm of historic proportions.

Kenya’s Dock Workers Union (DWU) has modified its long-held opposition to private operation of Mombasa port’s new container terminal.

Cargo volumes at non-major, also known as minor, ports in India expanded at nearly three times the pace of “major” ports owned by the federal government, reflecting rerouting of traffic to avoid ongoing congestion problems at major ports.

The development of Oman’s Sohar Port and Freezone and its links to the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf nations have placed the port city firmly on China’s radar as it works to build a “Maritime Silk Road” between Asia and Europe.

Only 60-70 percent of India’s port capacity was currently being utilized, and that issue should be addressed before the country embarked on ambitious new port projects, according to Visakhapatnam port chairman M.T. Krishna Babu.

The Pacific Maritime Association on Friday released detailed accounts of the dramatic drop in longshore productivity at West Coast ports that began in late October and continues to contribute to stifling port congestion.

Thousands of supporters of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are expected to attend a rally this evening near the Port of Los Angeles to urge waterfront employers to resolve what has become the most controversial issue of West Coast contract negotiations — jurisdiction over chassis maintenance and repair.

Brazilian container terminal operator Grupo Libra has opened a 30 million reais ($11.7 million) bonded warehouse and logistics park to serve the Port of Santos, the busiest container port in South America.

Construction began this week on a rail link that will connect a 360-acre logistics hub being built at a former Army base at the Port of Oakland with Union Pacific’s main line.

The return of CMA CGM, the opening of a grain containerization facility, healthy volume on Mediterranean and Caribbean services, and even diversions from the U.S. West Coast in 2014 helped lift Port of Montreal’s container volume 4.2 percent versus 2013.

South Carolina Ports Authority CEO Jim Newsome expects the Port of Charleston’s 2015 container volume to expand 5 percent to 7 percent after traffic measured similarly jumped 12 percent in 2014 from 2013.

Container volumes at the Puget Sound ports of Seattle and Tacoma declined slightly in 2014 for the second consecutive year, highlighting the wisdom of the ports’ decision last year to work together as a gateway for the good of the entire region.

Congestion at West Coast ports is the worst it has been since longshoremen began hard-timing employers in early November, and conditions are expected to worsen as terminal operators and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union use manning issues to see how much pain they can inflict on each other.

Terminal gridlock and persistent labor issues caught up with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in December as the container volume at the busiest U.S. port complex declined 1 percent compared to December 2013.

Europe’s ports face a rocky ride in 2015, dominated by a potential glut of container-handling capacity in the north that will only be partially offset by steadily rising transshipment traffic in the Mediterranean.

Total container throughput at China’s top 20 ports reached 175 million TEUs in 2014, an increase of 5.3 percent over the previous year as solid exports to the U.S. helped drive up the cargo numbers.

Terminal operators resumed daytime vessel unloading Tuesday after a one-day hiatus, but otherwise it was status quo at all U.S. West Coast ports.

Trucks serving various container terminals on the left bank of the Brazilian port of Santos are expected to see shorter trips thanks to a new 3 million reais ($1.15 million) access road.

The International Transport Workers' Federation has stepped up its protest of automation at the new Rotterdam World Gateway container terminal, and called for “all parties” to discuss RWG’s labor arrangements.

Container traffic soared 18.5 percent to nearly 3 million TEUs at Cosco Pacific’s Piraeus container terminal last year, again outpacing growth at Mediterranean rivals.

When the longshore contract negotiations are over and productivity has returned to normal, the CEOs of California’s container ports will face even greater challenges dealing with the problems that remain: handling big ships, adjusting to powerful carrier alliances and establishing a new chassis regime.

Some furniture retailers aren’t able to show off their complete lines of products at a major Las Vegas exhibition this week because of U.S. port delays, an example how congestion isn’t just hurting shippers’ current sales but also their future business prospects.

Contship Italia, Italy’s biggest container terminal operator, boosted traffic by 5.7 percent in 2014 as surging volume at its part-owned Morocco transhipment hub more than offset flat traffic at its once high-flying domestic terminals.

Panama transshipment activity is expected to jump by double digits after the new Panama Canal locks open in 2016 and will be followed by longer-term annual growth of about 5 percent, Drewry Maritime Research said in the latest issue of its Container Insight Weekly.

Container traffic jumped 5.8 percent in 2014 at the port of Rotterdam, putting it on track to post one of the highest increases in the fiercely competitive Le Havre-Hamburg port range after years of the port trailing its rivals.

APM Terminals-operated Gateway Terminals India closed its gates Sunday after truck drivers protesting intermittent gate closings at the facility violently clashed with police at the Nhave Sheva port complex.

U.S. West Coast marine terminals will suspend vessel operations on all shifts Monday so they can concentrate their resources on clearing containers from the dangerously congested facilities, the Pacific Maritime Association reported Sunday.

Hong Kong port ended a year it would rather forget with annual container throughput falling for a third consecutive time, registering 22.2 million TEUs in 2014 that was down 0.3 percent on the previous year's numbers.

China Merchants Holdings (International) handled 80 million TEUs in 2014, a 13 percent increase over the previous year and a continuation of the double digit growth annual that has been recorded since 2012 by the mainland’s largest container port operator.

A growing number of trade associations that have signed their names to a series of letters calling for a resolution to West Coast longshore talks points to the widening economic impact of port delays that have now lasted for months.

Union and non-union drayage drivers serving Port Metro Vancouver will likely strike at Canada’s largest container port as soon as Feb. 1 if the provincial government doesn’t meet their demands.

Albert Cernadas Sr., a former high-ranking officer in the International Longshoremen’s Association, was sentenced Friday to three years’ probation and fined $50,000 for his role in a decades-long mob extortion racket on the New Jersey waterfront.

Addressing U.S. port congestion will be the Federal Maritime Commission’s top priority in 2015, FMC Chairman Mario Cordero has told commission staff.

Spot rates on the Asia-U.S. East Coast rose to their highest level in more than a year, suggesting that the rapidly deteriorating labor talks on the West Coast are driving cargo owners in search of alternative gateways.

Last year was good to Cosco Pacific as the port operating arm of China’s largest shipping company saw its container throughput rising 10.6 percent in 2014 with 67.3 million TEUs crossing its busy wharves.

Ships are backing up rapidly at the major West Coast gateways following a decision by employers to stop working vessels at night in order to concentrate on clearing out congested marine terminal yards.

A veteran shipping executive says U.S. West Coast port problems are structural and “will not go away” and that as a result beneficial cargo owners should add three weeks to trans-Pacific import lead times to accommodate what will become chronic congestion.

PSA International has divested its entire stake in a container terminal facility at India’s Port of Kolkata.