Port News

The Panama Canal Authority is proposing a new tolling plan that would assess the first fees on empty containers returning from North America to Asia.

Proceeds from a clean truck fee launched Friday at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will go toward trucker subsidies and charging infrastructure needed to deploy a zero-emission drayage fleet.

Through its acquisition of Ceres container terminal, PSA can make better use of its other terminal in Halifax, the South End Container Terminal, or the Atlantic Hub, which is capable of handling mega-ships.

A report from McKinsey & Co. says that ocean freight rates will only return to pre-COVID-19 levels if US demand for consumer goods slows and port congestion clears.

Sources close to West Coast labor negotiations say any result is possible — from a contract getting signed with little to no disruption to a meltdown lasting months to any scenario in between.

US port executives have told the Federal Maritime Commission that additional information about whose containers are on their docks would go a long way toward clearing congestion.

The pending talks come amid fears from shippers that an impasse could result in further disruption in a market that can ill afford it, with some cargo owners already shifting volumes to the East and Gulf coasts.

The Port of Savannah has received more than half a billion dollars to grow its container and ro-ro capacity and provide options to importers and exporters to relieve pressure on the South Atlantic Chassis Pool.

The Port of Mobile, CSX, and Norfolk Southern have asked that Amtrak be brought to mediation in its year-long petition to resume a passenger rail service along the US Gulf Coast.

Carriers said while Shanghai’s main container terminals at Yangshan and Waigaoqiao remain open, many depots and warehouses are shut, and trucking is severely curtailed.

The Port of Vancouver CEO issues an urgent plea for development of more terminal capacity on Canada’s West Coast, but terminal operator GCT Canada says conditions are not as dire as the port chief claims.

The US Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a New Jersey law that would allow the state to exit the bi-state police agency charged with investigating criminal activity among longshore labor at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Ports on the East and Gulf coasts have increased their share of Asian imports to record levels as shippers and carriers mitigate the risks of West Coast port congestion and potential disruption from upcoming longshore contract negotiations.

MSC has deployed an ad-hoc vessel between India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and Mundra Port in a bid to connect shipments hit by vessel skips or schedule changes.

Analysts agree ports in the Middle East have far more capacity than they need to service current volumes, but opinions are split as to whether demand will eventually catch up to capacity.

A severe shortage of container trucks at Colombo is the latest pain point for shippers on the Indian subcontinent. 

The South Carolina Ports Authority is no longer giving a timeline on when it will clear more than two dozen anchored vessels, acknowledging it underestimated the complexity of the factors causing the congestion.

New Jersey has filed a brief opposing New York’s attempt to keep alive a bi-state police agency charged with investigating criminal activity among longshore labor.

Plans to build a baseball stadium and condominiums at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal suffered a setback when an advisory committee on waterfront property development recommended the 50-acre site remain for maritime use.

Yard restrictions at Shenzhen were implemented just as many factories and warehouses reopened after authorities lifted a week-long shutdown imposed to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

The US Department of Agriculture and the port of Seattle have announced plans for a “pop-up” yard that will help with the pre-positioning of export containers for ag shippers.

With coastal connectivity improvements in India, mainliners now have an opportunity to aggregate enough cargo to achieve the critical mass needed to make a direct call commercially viable.

A second consecutive month of strong imports from Asia to start 2022 signals to US ports and supply chain stakeholders that the two-year streak of record or near-record import volumes shows no signs of abating.

Intermodal equipment provider TRAC is turning to a one-year-old US chassis manufacturer as it seeks to increase its fleet of marine container chassis.

The worsening schedule reliability in the Indian shipping market is poised to weaken further given the COVID-linked lockdowns that have disrupted terminal operations at key ports in China.

The Harbor Trucking Association and other California groups are backing proposed legislation that would strengthen an existing law that limits the circumstances when container fees can be charged.

While major terminals and depots in Shenzhen and Shanghai are operating, productivity is being affected by port workers quarantining at home and tougher restrictions on truck drivers.

Rather than a fixed fortification like the Maginot Line, Long Beach’s Pier B facility will be a versatile and adaptable tool to help handle future volume growth, the port’s executive director says.

Historically, Indian containerized inbound volumes have exceeded containerized exports by a quantifiable margin, creating headhaul-backhaul trade imbalances.

Transshipment trade development had been a challenge for India’s DP World Cochin since it opened a decade ago, but tariff incentives and coastal network expansion has changed that.

The state of New York has filed with the US Supreme Court to stop New Jersey from leaving a bi-state police agency that has authority over hiring and firing at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The need to share data among supply chain participants has become a priority amid record volumes of US imports that have resulted in vessel backlogs, terminal congestion, and a stressed inland logistics sector.

The Port of Mobile is receiving $200 million in federal funds that will boost major projects designed to make it an inland intermodal gateway.

The Port of Vancouver, still hobbled from recent weather disruptions, is bracing for a flare up in port and rail congestion as import volumes are forecasted to spike this week.

A proposed mega-vessel container terminal in southern Louisiana has secured its first investment for a rail spur as it aims to get other financial backing.

Fresh disruptions loom on cargo shipped from China as authorities enact widespread lockdowns amid a new surge in COVID-19 cases in key port cities.

Yang Ming is extending waivers on fees related to import containers lingering at marine terminals because of congestion, which truckers claim is due to empty boxes.

Projections from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach show that after a lull of several weeks during the Lunar New Year holidays, import volumes will surge 30 to 60 percent later this month.

DP World’s efforts to reach shippers directly through logistics and technology acquisitions is visible in the growth of its non-port-operating revenue last year.

Longshore union representatives have told the Federal Maritime Commission that better data sharing would create more labor efficiency and provide the ability to better handle unexpected situations on the docks.