Port News

Making the Port of New York and New Jersey more resilient is a tough challenge. This summer’s fiasco reinforced the port's reputation as a place where even a tiny glitch can send things haywire — and where it’s difficult to get operations back on track quickly.

This summer’s congestion at New York-New Jersey terminals has renewed talk of extended hours for terminal gates that normally operate weekdays from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Changing Oakland’s reputation and making it the preferred port on the West Coast is the mission of newly appointed Executive Director Chris Lytle.

APM Terminals Rotterdam terminal in the Netherlands has welcomed the inaugural call of the 18,000 20-foot-equivalent-unit Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller, a Triple E vessel.

Global port activity as measured by The Journal of Commerce’s Top 50 container ports in 2012 demonstrates the importance of macroeconomic trends on container shipping. The fastest-growing ports last year were located in those regions with the most vibrant economies.

Port authorities should be preparing now for the demands they will make on local power grids as terminals automate their operations and shipping lines plug their vessels into shore-side electrical power while at berth.

Legislation being introduced by Washington state’s two U.S. senators to replace the Harbor Maintenance Tax with a new levy on U.S. containerized imports reflects a stark reality: Washington’s two container ports, Seattle and Tacoma, have for years been individually and collectively losing market share — mostly to Canadian west coast ports, where U.S.-bound containers aren’t assessed the HMT.

Baltimore U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials have intercepted seven shipments of uncertified chicken skeletons from China.

APM Terminals boosted second quarter operating profit to $179 million from $160 million a year ago even as traffic stalled in a growing global market.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex’s total container volume in July was 1.3 million 20-foot-equivalent units, rising 2.3 percent from 1.2 million TEUs in July 2012.

State and federal agencies are working to finalize a pilot program to bring grapes and blueberries from Peru and Uruguay into Florida’s Port Everglades and PortMiami, starting in October.

Roadrunner Transportation Systems has acquired certain assets of the U.S. Southeast drayage division of Transport Corp. of America, an intermodal transportation provider in the Southeast, for about $1.2 million.

Germany’s Port of Hamburg moved 46.5 million tons of container cargo, or 4.5 million 20-foot-equivalent units, in the first six months of 2013, up 2.1 percent year-over-year.

The Diamond State Port Corp., operator of Delaware’s Port of Wilmington, and Dole Foods have reached an agreement in principle by which Dole will continue to use the Port of Wilmington...

International Longshoremen’s Association President Harold Daggett plans to spend next week in Norfolk and Baltimore to discuss deadlocked local contract negotiations with ILA members and employers.

Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., next month will introduce legislation that would repeal the controversial harbor maintenance tax and replace it with a user fee to fund harbor dredging and maritime-related intermodal infrastructure projects.

Felixstowe, the U.K.’s biggest container port, has stepped up hostilities in a war of words with the new London Gateway terminal that will open for business in a depressed market before the end of the year.

India’s Chennai Port Authority, which last month canceled the bidding process for the construction of its long-planned mega container terminal, is again seeking bids.

Wilson Sons reported a net loss of $7.0 million in the second quarter of 2013, compared with a net loss of $3.9 million in the second quarter of 2012.

Mazda North American Operators has become the Port of Baltimore’s newest auto customer after agreeing to a five-year contract with auto processor Amports...

The International Longshoremen’s Association has served notice that it will insist on retaining its jurisdiction over chassis that truckers lease from equipment providers that have historically used ILA labor for maintenance and repair.

Import volume at major U.S. retail container ports is expected to rise 1.7 percent month-over-month in August, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker...

For the second time in four months, International Longshoremen’s Association members in Hampton Roads have rejected a local contract covering gang sizes and other issues.

Drayage companies in the Port of New York and New Jersey are asking container lines to waive per-diem charges for late return of containers and chassis to congested terminals, and are threatening to challenge per-diem bills caused by the terminals’ delays.

The Port of Virginia is experiencing an influx of rail cargo at Norfolk International Terminals and APM Terminals in Portsmouth as a result of peak season volume...

Contecon Manzanillo, operator of the Specialized Container Terminal 2 in Mexico’s Port of Manzanillo, has received its first vessel, the 5,500-TEU Maersk Kalamata.

Peel Ports has appointed specialized contractors BAM Nuttall and Van Oord to construct a new in-river quay wall at the Port of Liverpool’s post-Panamax container terminal, Liverpool2, in the U.K.

Black Sea ports most likely will not receive vessels of 10,000 20-foot-equivalent units in the near future, as the ports are not prepared and productivity is too low, according to the latest issue of SeaIntel Sunday Spotlight.

U.S. footwear imports in 2012 slipped 0.4 percent year-over-year, although they are predicted to rise from $23.4 billion in 2012 to $29.6 billion in 2017...

Regarding the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s lawsuit against Oregon’s Port of Portland, the port has responded that at “no time” did it deny access to its public records.

HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai at Germany’s Port of Hamburg has received four new gantry cranes designed for the latest generation of mega-ships.

An increasing volume of cargo is being delayed by late deliveries or rolled over as the peak season comes into full force, according to Drewry Maritime Research.

London Gateway has landed its first shipping line service, the Southern Africa Europe Container Service, which will start calling at the DP World-operated container terminal in November...

Gulf States Cold Storage has opened a 100,000 square foot cold storage facility serving the Port of Savannah.

This summer’s delays at New York-New Jersey’s container terminals are spurring the port’s diverse factions to work together on short-term and long-term solutions to difficult issues, Rick Larrabee, director of port commerce at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said.

The Port of Seattle Commission has approved $267.7 million for the State Route 99 Alaska Way Viaduct Replacement Program.

International Container Terminal Services reported its net income in the second quarter of 2013 was $44.2 million, jumping 26 percent year-over year from $35.0 million.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has filed a lawsuit against the Port of Portland, Ore., alleging numerous ongoing violations of the Oregon Public Records Act.

India’s Kandla Port Trust has issued a request for qualification from interested bidders for the construction and operation of a new container terminal under the public-private partnership model.