Port News

Trans-Pacific carriers seeking relief from congestion in Southern California are approaching Oakland and Seattle-Tacoma as alternatives for first-call inbound services.

The acquisition of JZ Expedited Companies gives the national drayage operator more trucking services, transload capacity near the port of Jacksonville.

Apart from western countries, Bangladeshi exports to Australia and Japan are also rising significantly, which has contributed to Chittagong’s container handling rebound.

Efforts to advance an Indian joint venture at Sri Lanka’s Colombo port have stalled because of port labor unions, though some believe the recent flare-up of border issues between India and China is also a factor.

Retailers project record year-over-year import volumes each month through June as US consumers continue to shop with no end in sight.

Seeing glimpses of improved productivity, terminal operators in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach predict a return to some sense of normalcy between April and June.

While Indian terminals had fewer ships to process, especially in the first half of 2020, that operational flexibility was eclipsed by widespread landside challenges and labor shortages.

FMC Commissioner Carl Bentzel said rerouting ships to the ports of Seattle and Tacoma could take up to six weeks, but he doesn’t see a better alternative to easing Southern California port congestion.

As COVID-19 infection rates rise, transport and maritime officials are urging that supply chain workers be given priority for vaccines, saying their health is essential to keeping goods moving throughout the US.

The British Columbia ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, as well as US East and Gulf Coast ports, will be looking to further increase their share of US imports from Asia in 2021.

After a sluggish start to the year, US imports from Asia came roaring back in the second half, with an even higher concentration than usual flowing through the largest container gateways.

Cargo gateways across the US Southeast will invest upwards of $850 million in 2021 on a wide range of enhancements that will allow terminals to handle multiple vessels of 14,000 TEU and above simultaneously.

The long-standing connections between CMA CGM and Yilport were again on display with the carrier’s former ports and terminals division head joining the Turkish port operator.

Despite an acceleration in COVID-19 cases among longshoremen in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, waterfront employers say there are enough general dockworkers to handle near-record container volumes, although a shortage of trained equipment operators is a problem.

Rapid collaboration by stakeholders as 2020 wound down helped prevent more than half a billion dollars in tariffs from being imposed on goods waiting at anchorage off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The acquisition of DDI bolsters RoadOne's 53-foot domestic container business and transloading capabilities on the East Coast as import volumes rise.

Amid continuous double-digit year-over-year increases in imports, the Port of Los Angeles will financially reward terminal operators that achieve key metrics in improving cargo velocity.

The World Bank and International Association of Ports and Harbors are urging ports and maritime ecosystems to quickly find public and private solutions to digitize operations and build data-sharing initiatives to bolster trade growth.

After a likely decline in annual container volumes at the Port of New York and New Jersey in 2020, the largest US East Coast gateway is focusing on improving efficiency, including through better data sharing with truckers.

While mainliners active in India trades continue to tout their high investment in empty repositioning to rebalance inventory flow, cargo interests argue those efforts have been suboptimal and at a rate vastly incommensurate with the demand growth.

A rebound in container volume at the port of Antwerp came in the second half, when Europe’s unexpectedly strong recovery kept ships full and terminals busy from July for the rest of the year.

Agricultural exporters say operational bottlenecks at the Port of Oakland caused by late vessel arrivals from Los Angeles and Long Beach are even worse than they were in the fall.

Kip Louttit, executive director at the maritime exchange, said that 18 more vessels are slated to call the port complex over the next three days, as ships at anchor outpace ships at berth.

The Quebec government joins the Canada Infrastructure Bank in supporting the planned marine terminal Contrecoeur, as the latter announced in 2019 that it would invest up to C$300 million toward the project.

Agricultural exporter Scoular will open a transload facility this summer to export soybeans out of the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina, adding to its existing relationships with ports in Virginia, South Carolina, and Southern California.

Truck turn times and container dwell times deteriorated further in Los Angeles-Long Beach in December, with even the best-performing terminals struggling to handle the volumes.

Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest apparel exporter, saw activity come to a near halt last spring during the initial wave of COVID-19.

Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel is looking into ways that Houston could handle larger vessels before a widening project is complete, given a Texas law that puts size limits on port calls.

The chassis network on the East Coast has held up during the recent import surge due to better communication and data, and more reliable equipment.

The pandemic has redefined the playbook for India’s logistics industry, causing widespread pain points, but the reconfiguration appears to have bred a brighter outcome for private port Mundra.

South Carolina Ports Authority on Wednesday filed an unfair labor practice charge alleging an illegal secondary boycott in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.

Expecting a return to volume growth, the ports of Houston and New Orleans are dredging and enhancing terminals to allow calls from larger vessels, while Tampa Bay will add capacity through new truck gates and additional gantry cranes, among other projects.

Truckers are taking longer to get through terminals in Chicago because of the surge in cargo and changes in stacking containers with some railroads.

Mirroring a government strategy to monetize stressed port assets, India’s JNPT will proceed with a long-contemplated plan to upgrade its main two-berth facility – the oldest in the harbor – through private participation.

The Port of Virginia’s new CEO will start his job Jan. 19 and immediately have a host of short- and long-term projects to oversee to position the port as a top East Coast gateway.

Congestion issues in Los Angeles and Long Beach have been so severe during the past six months that the US Federal Maritime Commission has opened a formal investigation into carrier practices the commission believes are contributing to the problems.

Drayage capacity in Miami is tight due to an unusual late-year surge in fruits and vegetables, cigars, and casual wear, causing truckers to be booked up seven to 14 days in advance.

Because asset owners can’t economically invest in excess capacity for volumes that may never materialize, the risk of supply chain disruption caused by external shocks, especially surprise surges in demand, likely will never go away.

With import volumes exceptionally high for this time of year, terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach are bracing for a labor shortage as workers take time off during the holidays.

Approval of the Water Resources Development Act this year includes authorization to begin spending down the more than $9 billion balance in the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.