Port News

The Port of Vancouver was stranded from inland rail service and trucking was limited due to damage from last weekend’s widespread flooding.

The International Longshoremen’s Association is appealing a federal labor judge’s decision that it engaged in an unfair labor practice against South Carolina’s newest marine terminal.

The Port of Virginia is expanding the rail footprint of Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) to take advantage of import volumes that have grown at the fastest rate of any US Southeast port in 2021.

The North Carolina State Ports Authority said it will be able to offer customers opting for the Port of Wilmington a new, daily rail service into Midwest markets.

The looming storage tariffs in Los Angeles and Long Beach are starting to force carriers, marine terminals, and shippers to break through the gridlock of competing interests.

APM Terminals took another step with Plaquemines Port on the development of what would be among the US’ largest container terminals.

The White House has endorsed proposed shipping reform legislation and said the Department of Justice is ready to assist maritime regulators if they find alliances are violating the US Shipping Act.

After severe weather last weekend caused flooding and mudslides, Vancouver port stakeholders hope that rail service can be restored this weekend to the port, a key entry point for US imports.

The Port of New York and New Jersey’s longshore workforce is set to grow again in 2022 as the port’s volumes see double-digit increases through 2021.

Not all Christmas goods will be available in Germany as ongoing congestion at the country’s ports disrupts supply lines and delays deliveries for retailers and manufacturers.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have delayed by one week implementation of costly emergency fees on long-dwell containers as retailers rush to vacate those containers from the docks.

BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad are concerned cargo owners will use trucks instead of trains in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach due to the Excessive Container Dwell fee.

Starting Tuesday, container ships calling Southern California will enter a queue based on when they departed their last port of call in an effort to improve safety and reduce emissions.

Marine terminal operators in Los Angeles and Long Beach want to double the current fee for daytime trucking moves to incentivize more nighttime moves and help relieve crippling congestion at the ports.

Strong growth in imports and a slight decline in exports over the past few years have thrown off the once balanced import-export flow in the US Gulf Coast, exposing Houston to the same terminal space issues and equipment imbalances that have plagued other import-dependent ports in 2021

Ports in Europe are stuck in a situation where terminals cannot improve their utilization as long as vessels arrive late, and vessels cannot keep reliable schedules unless terminal utilization improves.

The decision to halt further strikes, at least for a month, came after Australia’s competition watchdog highlighted how labor issues have added to supply chain disruption, exacerbating congestion and delays.  

Port managers and terminal executives in Los Angeles-Long Beach look to emergency fees on long-dwell containers and sweeper ships to vacate empty boxes as their best bet to relieve congestion amid record vessel arrivals.

With dozens of ships at anchor off the coast of Southern California and public fears of US retail stockouts ahead of the winter holiday growing, shipping disruption is increasingly becoming a political liability for President Joe Biden.

The Port of Boston will be without an Asia direct service through most of January because the vessels in the service have been severely delayed by Savannah congestion.

In its first effort to give port authorities flexibility to reallocate port grants toward congestion-fighting efforts, the White House said it’s allowing the port of Savanah to tap $8 million for pop-up container yards. 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is looking at how it can withstand climate change and not contribute to it through a series of initiatives that include reviewing port operations.

The latest figures from China’s two biggest port groups show a drop in container volumes through the country’s leading ports when power shortages started to bite.

A clean truck fee in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach is expected to generate more than $90 million, money that will be used in part to provide direct grants to truckers for zero-emission vehicles.

As Southern California ports begin to see the movement of long-dwelling containers, a second terminal operator in Tacoma will begin charging a similar fee, highlighting the need for quick action by West Coast ports to reduce congestion.

Although there are still more than 20 vessels anchored outside of Savannah, the Georgia Ports Authority said terminal fluidity has greatly improved compared with two months ago.

The California Chamber of Commerce urged the state’s lawmakers to enact a variety of measures that aim to relieve the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach of severe container congestion.

Husky Terminal in Tacoma is the first container terminal in the Northwest Seaport Alliance to charge fees for excessive-dwell containers following a similar move in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Observers say emergency container fees in Los Angeles-Long Beach will harm small and mid-sized shippers that don’t have favorable arrangements with carriers for container storage that big-box retailers do.

LA and LB harbor commission approve a 90-day change in its tariff during which time they will charge large fees to carriers, which will likely be passed on to shippers, on excessive-dwell containers.

A new agreement between California and the Biden administration seeks a more unified approach and “innovative” federal financing for port infrastructure projects that could speed goods inland.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Ocean Network Express are adding Oakland calls to their Asian services as the vessel congestion at the port abates.

In seeking formal approval for a new “emergency storage fee” from harbor commissioners, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are expected to explain how they would implement the fees, as carriers lobby the ports to delay the Nov. 1 start.

The world’s largest container ships are deployed on the Asia-Europe trade, and port omissions by carriers to recover schedules are leading to sometimes dramatic increases in call sizes.

Union Pacific Railroad plans on running longer trains from Long Beach to Utah as the Port of Long Beach works with Utah Inland Port Authority to move more containers onto rail.

With retailers failing to respond to incentives designed to mitigate excessive container dwell times on the docks, Los Angeles and Long Beach will hit carriers with punishing storage fees that the lines say they will pass on to their customers.

Cosco Shipping Ports saw revenues at Piraeus surge more than 16 percent in the first half of this year, though total throughput dropped slightly.

Global Container Terminals is adding another berth at its terminal in Bayonne, New Jersey, that would have cranes capable of handling ultra-large container ships.

A rare Senate grilling of a Federal Maritime Commissioner nominee highlights Washington D.C.’s newfound focus on container shipping and the limitations in legislators’ understanding of the complexity of the containerized supply chain, writes JOC Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi

The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will levy costly fees on containers with excessive dwell times in a bid to clear the mounting backlog of vessels at anchor off Southern California.