Top 50 Global Container Ports

LONG BEACH, Calif. — Lori Ann Farrell, former controller and chief financial officer for the city of Long Beach, was appointed to the Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission to replace Nick Sramek, who resigned last week.

The New York Shipping Association and the International Longshoremen’s Association said “bureaucratic delays” by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor are jeopardizing productivity at the East Coast’s busiest port.

SHENZHEN, China — JOC Group Inc., parent company of The Journal of Commerce and joc.com, on Wednesday recognized APM Terminals Yokohama as the world’s most productive terminal for 2012.

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.

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.

The July 22 debut of JOC Port Productivity research comes with a message that rings loud and clear: Marine terminal operators must do a better job of delivering the vessel productivity required by ocean carriers and those whose cargo is aboard their ships.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority said first half profit was unchanged from a year ago. Lower ship dues were offset by higher rental revenue.

Port of Long Beach Executive Director Chris Lytle will leave Southern California this month to assume the Port of Oakland’s top position. Although the ports are only 400 miles apart, the culture, location and leadership needs in Northern California are so different from the Long Beach scene that Lytle might as well be moving to another state.

Thomas Fields, who is taking over as president of the Long Beach Harbor Commission, believes the commissioners have worked out their internal differences and are ready to move forward as a united commission.

The planned alliance between Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM poses a major challenge for ports and container terminals in Europe, the U.S. and Asia serving the carriers’ pooled network of 255 ships on 29 service loops, according to shipping consultant Drewry.

Ports could face a logistical nightmare when Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM next year flood the U.S. East and West coasts with big containerships as part of their new P3 Network alliance, but Long Beach and Los Angeles are taking the news in stride.

The Port of Los Angeles reported cargo volume in May dropped 12.9 percent compared with the same month last year.

Congressional reauthorization to start dredging may be waiting in the wings, but the Georgia Ports Authority isn’t waiting around for the $652 million in funding before beginning work on its long-delayed Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. Indeed, the GPA is pressing ahead with pre-engineering and preparations for environmental mitigation along the 29-mile length of the river channel leading to the Port of Savannah.

The Port of Busan is taking the significant threat and competition for Asian transshipment cargo about as serious as a port can, and responding aggressively by boosting capacity and facilities.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Gergel today accepted the settlement agreement between all parties involved in the mediation regarding the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project...

The shocking announcement that J. Christopher Lytle, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, will resign to become executive director at the Port of Oakland is a major loss for the nation’s second largest container port and a huge victory for the Northern California port,

Hanjin Shipping’s Busan container terminal and the turnaround times it affords are enough to make eyes water.

J. Christopher Lytle, executive director of the Port of Long Beach, will leave in mid-July to take the same post at the Port of Oakland.

The European Union is sending a strong signal that it intends to improve service standards and efficiency at ports to spread traffic more evenly across the European waterfront and ease congestion.

LONG BEACH, Calif. — As North American container ports compete fiercely for market share, it’s becoming clear that the winners will be those that reliably and efficiently handle mega-ships on the water and land side of the berths.

The Busan Port Authority recently completed a review of productivity at 10 container terminals as part of a plan to increase the port’s competitiveness.

Rotterdam handled 4 percent more ocean containers in the first quarter than a year ago, but an increasing number were empty because of the continuing economic downturn across Europe.

The United States may be the trade capital of the world, but if you’re looking for North America’s fastest-growing container ports, you’ll have to look north and south of its borders.

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex had a strong first quarter, with total container volumes, including loaded imports, loaded exports and empty containers, increasing 5 percent over the first three months of 2012.

Hongkong International Terminals insists it will not be financially liable for delays suffered by lines and shippers because of ongoing strikes by dockworkers usually deployed on its facilities.

Eight European container ports handled 12.5 percent of the total TEU throughput...

Eight container ports in the Americas handled 8.7 percent of the total TEU throughput...

In calendar 2012, the top 15 mainland China container ports increased their container volume 7.3 percent, reaching 147.3 million TEUs from 137.2 million TEUs in 2011.

28 Asia-Australasia ports handled 70.5 percent of the JOC Top 50 World Container Ports in calendar 2011.

Twenty-eight Asia-Australasia ports handled 70.5 percent of the total TEU throughput volume of the JOC Top 50 World Container Ports in calendar 2011.

DP World plans to invest $850 million over the next three years to boost the capacity of its flagship container terminal at Jebel Ali in Dubai by more than 26 percent.