Port News

Expansion of Duisburg’s container terminals has entered a new stage, taking the large German inland river port one step closer to meeting increased demand and additional rail traffic.

Intermodal chassis provider Direct ChassisLink Inc. has acquired REZ-1, which for 20 years has supplied technology for intermodal equipment management and service.

A federal judge has dismissed an employer-union lawsuit challenging the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor’s new rules for hiring dockworkers in the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Thirty million times since 2005 a truck entered or left a Los Angeles-Long Beach marine terminal during off-peak hours, relieving daytime congestion around the largest U.S. port complex, thanks to the Offpeak program run by PierPass.

New capacity and a pickup in global trade drove strong profitability at DP World in the first half of 2014, leaving the global terminal operator with a positive outlook for full-year 2014.

China Merchants Holdings (International) is the second state-owned terminal operator to post positive first half results with total container throughput rising by 18 percent to 38.5 million TEUs, consolidating its position at the top of the mainland’s port operator table.

Two cargo terminals at the Port of Long Beach suspended vessel operations because of storm surges.

Officials at the Port of Hueneme hope that a new funding bill will help them become more competitive in years to come.

The Port of Seattle Commission has selected manufacturing and transportation veteran Ted J. Fick as its next CEO.

U.S. grain shippers are welcoming the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s collective bargaining agreement with Pacific Northwest grain handlers, but they are still concerned about poor rail service that is hampering their ability to get exports to Asia.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating a $25 million settlement by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey with American Stevedoring Inc., the Bergen Record newspaper reported.

The agreement reached late Tuesday pertaining to health care was the latest and clearest indication that the 2014 West Coast longshore labor negotiations are playing out in a way no one expected: They are peaceful.

The peak season is looming over the congested port of Manila as it continues battling to clear cargo and empties before a wave of Christmas container volumes starts arriving in the next two weeks.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association released a joint statement on Tuesday saying they have come together on at least one topic, and a highly contentious one at that: health benefits.

German terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA) has unveiled a new berth capable of handling the largest container ships at its Container Terminal Burchardkai at the Port of Hamburg.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with grain handlers in the Pacific Northwest, spelling the end to an embittered, two-year battle between the two parties and allowing the union to focus on still-unresolved coastwide container talks.

U.S. shippers are finding that hedging their bets against possible U.S. West Coast port disruptions by shipping cargo through the Port of Prince Rupert comes with a catch: long delays before imports can be loaded onto the rails.

The Alabama State Port Authority has paid $25 million to acquire a 35-acre dockside tract for future expansion of Mobile’s container terminal and a 63-acre industrial site a half-mile from the harbor.

Robust container throughput in the first half drove up Cosco Pacific terminal revenue by 18.9 percent as strengthening trade saw a total of 32.48 million 20-foot containers crossing the state owned group’s wharves.

Now that the Port of Portland has taken away the jurisdiction of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union over the handling of refrigerated containers, the port authority is warning the leadership of the powerful union that a further loss of work opportunities could follow if productivity does not improve.

German-Russian business ties were on full display at a reception in St. Petersburg hosted by the Port of Hamburg, where politics was a main theme of discussion.

Officials at Argentina’s port of Rosario have urged their federal government to suspend a resolution that has banned cargo transshipment through Uruguay, alleging that the measure is severely affecting regional trade, the Buenos Aires Herald reports.

Retailers are growing anxious over the continuing lack of a U.S. West Coast longshore labor agreement.

The market for container terminals in the U.S. is being helped by cheap prices, low risk, and the advent of automation, according to the latest newsletter from industry analyst Drewry Maritime Research.

APM Terminals has completed the sale of its semi-automated terminal at Portsmouth, Virginia, to an investment group that will continue to lease the facility to the Virginia Port Authority.

The 6.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Napa Valley north of San Francisco early Aug. 24 caused no discernible damage to the Port of Oakland, a port spokeswoman said.

Striking truck drivers at the Chinese port of Ningbo have returned to work after a week of sometimes violent industrial action that brought terminal and drayage operations to a standstill.

The port of Manila is starting to feel the easing effects of measures put in place by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) to clear containers that have backed up at the port since a day-time truck ban was imposed in the city in February.

The Port of Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22 announced the cancellation of a contract covering two reefer jobs with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, citing dips in productivity at its Terminal 6 facility.

In the latest instance of drayage-related disruption, violence flared at Ningbo’s Beilun Container Port as thousands of striking truck drivers clashed with riot police and smashed the windshields of trucks crossing a picket line. The past week’s protests brought the world’s sixth-largest container port to a standstill, with carriers reportedly diverting ships.

The Ningbo container truck driver strike is escalating with trucks clogging the terminal gates and forwarders warning customers to expect missed sailings and a shortage of boxes as carriers divert some calls to Shanghai.

Container throughput at major state-owned ports in India expanded 5.3 percent year-over-year during April to July, the first four months of fiscal year 2014-15, according to preliminary figures released by the Indian Ports Association.

The Virginia Port Authority today said it’s on its way to profitability after kicking off its new fiscal year with a “solid start,” following a loss in the previous fiscal year.

With much of the attention of the international container shipping industry on gateway ports and congestion problems they’re experiencing in handling mega-ships, Turkish port operator Yilport Holding sees opportunity in short-sea and feeder operations.

Violence flared at Ningbo’s Beilun Container Port as thousands of striking truck drivers clashed with riot police and smashed the windshields of trucks crossing a picket line, according to the Hong Kong-based China Labor Bulletin.

South Carolina Ports Authority said its fiscal year 2014 results surpassed original plans, and now fiscal year 2015 is off to a good start too.

Port Metro Vancouver is receiving a modest windfall in container volume thanks to the uncertainties surrounding longshore contract negotiations on the U.S. West Coast, but it might have profited even more if its terminals had more capacity to handle diverted cargo. Projects are planned to expand its capacity substantially over the next 10 years.

The Port of New Orleans is revamping its Mississippi River Intermodal Terminal to the tune of $21 million after a bid was awarded to a Louisiana-based construction company.

Container volume is increasing at North Carolina’s Port of Wilmington thanks to carriers’ service expansions.