Port News

The International Longshoremen’s Association and United States Maritime Alliance reached tentative agreement on a six-year coastwide master contract late Friday night, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service said.

The container terminals at the Port of Algeciras in Spain handled 4.1 million 20-foot-equivalent units in 2012, a 13 percent increase year-over-year.

The announcement that Mediterranean Shipping Co. will invest in the Total Terminals International facility at the Port of Long Beach comes barely one month after the port announced that CMA CGM is taking an equity stake in the Pacific Container Terminal that is operated by SSA Marine.

Port of Tacoma, Wash., has hired Tom Bellerud to lead container terminal business development.

Mediterranean Shipping Company has increased its investment at the Port of Long Beach, according to J. Christopher Lytle, the port’s executive director, in his “State of the Port” announcement.

Halterm Container Terminal has signed a seven-year contract with Newfoundland-based intermodal company Oceanex that could generate more than $60 million in annual revenue for the Halifax, Nova Scotia-based terminal...

Finland-based lifting equipment manufacturer Konecranes reported profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 was 22.3 million euros (about US$30.3 million), dropping 2.9 percent from $31.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Duisburg’s container traffic reached an all-time high in 2012 even as total throughput at the world’s largest inland port slumped 12 percent on sharply lower coal and steel shipments.

HAROPA, an alliance of three ports on the Seine river, including Ports de Paris, Grand Port Maritime de Rouen and Grand Port Maritime du Havre, reported container traffic in the waterway increased 1 percent year-over-year in tonnage...

Workers at the Port of Albany in New York have been loading housing modules onto freighters bound for St. John’s, Newfoundland, for an Exxon/Mobil-led offshore drilling project there, which has boosted the port’s traffic...

Container ship lines serving East and Gulf Coast ports are urging customers to pick up import containers and return empty boxes before the International Longshoremen’s Association contract expires Feb. 6.

The port of Tyne, Europe’s biggest handler of wood pellets, announced plans to invest £180 million ($283 million) in additional facilities to handle, store and distribute imports for the UK’s power plants.

A team of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies began maritime safety and security operations on the lower Mississippi River today to support Super Bowl XLVII.

The Surface Transportation Board has granted its permission for motor carriers to use co-op pools to acquire and share intermodal chassis.

The International Longshoremen’s Association and United States Maritime Alliance resume contract negotiations Tuesday amid the renewed possibility of a work stoppage at East and Gulf Coast ports.

The European Port Community Systems Association has appointed Alan Long, managing director of Felixstowe, England-based Maritime Cargo Processing, as chairman, and Piet Jan ten Thije, strategy and business director of Rotterdam...

The Georgia Ports Authority reported container tonnage in December 2012 was 1.76 million tons, increasing 4.2 percent year-over-year.

Port of Tacoma, Wash., handled 1.7 million 20-foot-equivalent units in 2012, making it the best year since 2008.

The Alabama State Port Authority reported revenue was a record $144.6 million for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2012.

International Transport Workers’ Federation inspectors, along with dockers’ and seafarers’ union members, began the first East Asian maritime action week of 2013 today across ports in Japan, Korea, Russia and Taiwan.

The government of Canada has allocated a maximum of C$19.9 million, through its Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, to a C$45-million overpass on the Deltaport Causeway...

The Alabama State Port Authority’s board of directors has approved two measures that advance the development of the port’s new intermodal container transfer facility.

The Environmental Defense Fund recently worked with stakeholders to develop a recognition program for top performing ports and terminals in terms of air quality, in an effort to reduce air pollution and drive efficiency.

The Indian Finance Ministry has approved a proposal by DP World to invest 4.4 billion rupees (about $82 million) in a new container terminal project at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva).

Port of Everett in Washington has announced that Karen Clements, the port’s CFO, will retire in September.

The government of Malta has become the 34th International Labour Organization member state and the 12th European Union member state to ratify the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.

Port Everglades in Florida was ranked as the top exporting foreign trade zone in the U.S. for warehousing and distribution activity in 2011, according to the Foreign-Trade Zones Board’s 73rd annual report to Congress released this month.

Liebherr Container Cranes has received an order for four SC350T straddle carriers from Lyttelton Port of Christchurch in New Zealand.

The Port of Constanta in Romania reported container traffic through the country’s ports in 2012 was 684,059 20-foot-equivalent units, rising 3.2 percent from 662,796 TEUs in 2011.