Pacific Shipper articles from April 2007

Pacific Shipper archives from April 2007

Sticky Situation.
April 4, 2007... It''s a tangled web indeed that Jim Crane has spun. Crane, chairman and chief executive of EGL Inc., along with some of his management colleagues and private equity backers, wanted to quietly buy the publicly traded transportation logistics...

Us Airfreight Hits Three-Year Low.
April 4, 2007... Domestic cargo for the U.S. airlines fell to its lowest monthly total in three years in February, slipping 0.6 percent. The decline on the domestic side marked the third time in the last six months that cargo business for the airlines had...

United States, South Korea Reach Free-Trade Agreement.
April 4, 2007... The United States and South Korea reached a free-trade agreement that, if ratified, would be the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994. The potential $29 billion agreement would eliminate duties on...

Average Rates Still Sliding: Nol.
April 4, 2007... Average revenue per container continued to slide in Neptune Orient Lines'' most recent four-week reporting period by more than twice as much as the increase in container volumes. The Singapore-based parent of APL said volumes during the...

Canadian National Plans Rail Transload Center.
April 4, 2007... Canadian National announced that it will construct a C$20 million (US$17.3 million) transload and intermodal rail terminal in Prince George, British Columbia. The hub will handle exports of containerized products to and from Asian markets...

Up to Upgrade Ictf.
April 4, 2007... Union Pacific Railroad said it plans to spend $300 million to make its Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, which serves the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, more environmentally friendly. The revamped facility would also have more...

Domestic Markets Soft on Volume, Strong on Rate Levels.
April 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall Unlike other trade lanes in the trans-Pacific, the Jones Act routes between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii and Alaska have seen slight decreases in volume in the last year. But in another difference between the...

Business Stability Reigns.
April 4, 2007... BYLINE: By Richard Knee Stability reigns, but there''s still plenty to talk about in the Pacific domestic trades. The military is talking about beefing up its presence on tiny island of Guam, a strategic outpost in the western Pacific, and...

Gdp Growth Higher Than Expected.
April 5, 2007... Economic growth was moderately stronger in the fourth quarter than previously thought, the U.S. Commerce Department reported late last month. The gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output, expanded at a 2.5...

Cma Cgm Buys Moroccan Carrier.
April 5, 2007... A consortium led by CMA CGM said it had won the right to buy Comanav, the Moroccan state-owned freight and passenger carrier and port operator. Morocco''s Privatization and Finance Ministry in January had issued an international call for bids...

Cosco Profit Plummets.(Financial report)
April 5, 2007... China Cosco Holdings'' full-year profit from container shipping fell 69 percent from a year earlier to 1.56 billion yuan ($213 million) as higher fuel prices and lower freight rates cut into earnings. The parent of Cosco Container Lines,...

Eu Seeks Wto Ruling on India Wine Duties.
April 5, 2007... The European Union has asked the World Trade Organization to rule on the legality of India''s high import duties on wine and spirits, claiming they hurt French winemakers and Scotch whisky producers. The United States earlier filed a WTO...

Rail Container Volume Declines.
April 5, 2007... Widespread declines in volume hit the U.S. railroad industry in the week that ended on March 24. Without the effects of bad weather to blame, a definite slowdown in freight movement may be traced to deeper economic causes. In the previous...

Northwest Subpoenaed in Price-Fixing Probe.
April 5, 2007... Northwest Airlines was subpoenaed by the Department of Justice in an investigation of price-fixing in the air-cargo market. More than a dozen airlines are the targets of a U.S. and European Union investigation into suspected air-cargo...

Trans-Pacific Rate Hike Advised for Shipments of Chilled Vegetables.
April 5, 2007... Member carriers of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement are recommending 2007 freight rate increases for chilled "vegetables, all kinds." Effective May 1, rates on fresh vegetable shipments would increase by $200 per 40-foot...

Beef Spat Endangers Us-Korea Free-Trade Pact.
April 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall The United States and South Korea reached a free-trade agreement that if ratified would be the largest for the U.S. since the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994. Some influential members of the U.S....

New Vessel Enters Horizon''s Pacific Fleet.
April 5, 2007... The Horizon Hawk, a new 2,824-TEU container ship in the Horizon Lines fleet, made its maiden call last week at the Port of Tacoma, launching the carrier''s enhanced Transpacific-1 service between the U.S. West Coast, Guam, Micronesia and Asia....

Ckyh Alliance Upgrades Services.
April 5, 2007... The CKYH alliance of Cosco Container Lines, "K" Line, Yang Ming Line and Hanjin Shipping late last month announced three express services from China to the U.S. East Coast on several of the all-water rotations it plans to upgrade in May. ...

India Conference Lines Increase Rates.
April 5, 2007... Member lines of the India-Pakistan-Bangladesh-Ceylon Conferences late last month announced a new round of rate increases in the westbound trade as part of their business plan for 2007. In its notice, the carriers said they plan to increase...

Asian Development Bank to Aid Colombo Expansion.
April 5, 2007... The Asian Development Bank will provide $300 million to help finance expansion at the Port of Colombo. The move comes after Sri Lanka signed a contract with China to develop a $450 million first phase of its proposed Hambantota port...

Heavyweight Rail Lanes Planned for India.
April 5, 2007... After launching dedicated freight corridors, Indian Railways plans to develop four high-speed freight corridors to transport heavy commodities. The four routes that have been identified include Delhi-Chennai, Goa-Chennai and...

Chennai Reports Record Volume for Year.
April 5, 2007... Chennai Container Terminal at India''s southern Port of Chennai handled a record 880,000 TEUs in fiscal 2006-07, compared with 829,000 TEUs in 2006 and 700,000 TEUs in 2005, according to data released by the port. The terminal was handling...

Seattle Sells Bonds to Fund Box Terminal.
April 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto The Port of Seattle recently sold $228 million worth of First Lien Revenue Bonds to fund various terminal projects, including a major project to return Terminal 30, which is currently a cruise facility, to...

Weber Opens Logistics Hub in Northern California.
April 5, 2007... Weber Distribution LLC announced the opening of a 100,000-square-foot facility in Lodi, Calif., to manage growing storage and distribution needs throughout Northern California. The privately held logistics and supply-chain management...

Up Finishes Rebuilding American River Bridge.
April 5, 2007... Union Pacific Railroad has opened both main tracks on a bridge that spans the American River in Sacramento -- more than a month ahead of schedule. An arson fire on March 15 destroyed 1,100 feet of a 2,500-wooden-trestle bridge that crosses...

Columbia River Coalition Tests Security Partnership.
April 5, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson The idea of public-private partnership has been around long enough that it has been given its own acronym: 3P. While the phrase has become part of the lexicon of homeland security, it''s something that the federal...

Washington State Helps with New Oil Transfer Rules.
April 5, 2007... Washington companies and operators that transfer oil over water to non-recreational vessels got some unanticipated help last month on successfully complying with the state''s Department of Ecology oil transfer rules, which were adopted in...

Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, Forms Berth Liaison Committee.
April 5, 2007... The Vancouver (British Columbia) Port Authority recently announced the formation of the Deltaport Third Berth Project Community Liaison Committee, which will work with the port authority during the construction and first year of operations of...

Yusen Terminals Promotes Five.
April 5, 2007... Thomas J. Simmers, president and chief executive of Yusen Terminals Inc. last month promoted five managers on the container terminals operations team. Mike Patalano was named vice president and general manager; Tracy Burdine holds the...

Hoegh Autoliners Taps Perduto.
April 5, 2007... Hoegh Autoliners Inc. has hired James A. Perduto as vice president of marketing. Perduto joins the company from the United States Mission to the United Nations where he served as a military adviser assigned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. ...

Serving Us Exporters.
April 5, 2007... A primer on Commerce Department services The Department of Commerce offers a range of services to assist U.S. exporters. These include: The Trade Information Center The Trade Information Center operates the toll-free...

Commercial Service''s Mission.
April 5, 2007... The U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service is part of the International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The agency, normally referred to as the U.S. Commercial Service, was created in 1980 to better serve the needs of U.S....

Holmberg Fills Post at Port of Vancouver.
April 5, 2007... Nelson Holmberg has joined Washington state''s Port of Vancouver as communications manager. Holmberg, who was on the staff of The Columbian for three years and for two at The Oregonian, was most recently senior account manager at Koopman...

Last Building Demolished at Former Tacoma Smelter Site.
April 5, 2007... The former Kaiser, Wash., Aluminum site at the Port of Tacoma is now officially gone. The last remaining building at the 96-acre facility was torn down last month. More than 70 buildings and 16 other structures, including a landmark...

Weyerhaeuser Plans Sawmill at Port of Longview.
April 5, 2007... Forest products giant Weyerhaeuser Co. is slated to open a modernized sawmill at its Port of Longview, Wash., site by mid-2008 as part of a restructuring plan. The new Longview facility will employ about 230 people producing lumber for the West...

Siemens Wind Turbines Blow Through Longview, Wash.
April 5, 2007... The Port of Longview, Wash., recently contracted with Siemens Power Generation to offload wind towers and turbines for several Northwest energy projects this year. The agreement represents the port''s first all-inclusive wind energy contract....

San Diego Set Records in 2006, Targets Further Growth.
April 5, 2007... The Port of San Diego posted record cargo volume and revenue in 2006. Cargo tonnage topped 2,887,540 metric tons for the 12-month period, an approximate 6 percent increase over 2005. Maritime cargo revenue totaled $37 million in 2006, a 28...

Los Angeles Lobbies for Transport Funds.
April 5, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson Some 200 Los Angeles business and political luminaries wrapped up two days of activities on Capitol Hill on March 28 with a "pep rally for goods movement." The group was armed with an economic impact study...

Trade Partners.
April 5, 2007... BYLINE: By William Armbruster Ask a group of small and medium-sized manufacturers if they know anything about the U.S. Commercial Service and you''re likely to get more than a few blank stares. But you may get a very different reaction if...

Gao Says Federal Guidance Lacking for Ports Recovering from Disasters.
April 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto Nearly two years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a Government Accountability Office report says shortcomings persist in federal guidance and coordination of disaster planning and recovery. The GAO said...

Distributing the Weight.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall Just for fun, let''s list some of our present-day transportation woes: port congestion, congestion on our highways, not enough money to build roads, a shortage of truck drivers and a shortfall in rail capacity. ...

Agricultural Shippers Rank Performance by Ocean Carriers.
April 12, 2007... The Agriculture Transportation Coalition last week released a survey ranking ocean carrier ability to provide timely and accurate bills of lading. Other aspects of shipping were not included in the evaluation. The 2007 AgTC Ocean Carrier...

Retailers Predict Records for Coming Peak Season.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Retailers and large importers are being urged to plan ahead for their logistics needs as this year''s peak shipping season is shaping up to be the busiest ever. "This is going to be a very busy summer at the...

Canadian National Braces for New Strike.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Courtney Tower OTTAWA -- Canadian National Railway on April 11 faced new strikes by conductors and yard workers who voted to reject a tentative contract agreement. Pickets went up at several CN locations immediately after...

Air Vs. Ocean.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Mike Seemuth Shipments of fresh fish, delicate flowers, fruits, vegetables and other perishables are among the most common types of cargo shipped through air-cargo hubs, and that is not likely to change. But transporting...

China Shipping Profit Plunges.(Financial report)
April 12, 2007... China Shipping Container Lines reported a 76 percent decline in profit for 2006 despite an increase in revenue as falling freight rates and rising bunker fuel costs eroded its bottom line. The carrier''s chairman said the decrease in...

Pacific Northwest Group Prepares Maritime Air Emission Study.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto Public and private Pacific Northwest maritime organizations are preparing a maritime air emissions inventory, a massive effort to track, understand and address maritime-related air pollution in a region...

Long Beach Breaks Ground on Port Security Hub.
April 12, 2007... The Port of Long Beach broke ground on April 3 on a $20 million Security Command and Control Center, a facility for the port''s expanding security division and its law enforcement partners. "This Command and Control Center marks the beginning...

Supreme Court Opens Door to More Regulation of Pollutants.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson Air pollution by ships in port is of growing concern, and it''s a problem ocean carriers agree must be addressed. Carriers don''t have a solution in hand, but at least they know their enemies, fine particulate...

Transport Index Shows Economy Hitting the Brakes.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By John D. Boyd Compared to the Consumer Price Index, unemployment rate and housing starts, the Transportation Services Index isn''t well known as an indicator of the U.S. economy. But the data has been telling in predicting past...

Insurer Predicts Tough Year.
April 12, 2007... Insurance mutual TT Club announced a third consecutive year of rising premium income and a fifth consecutive year of increasing net worth for 2006. But the London-based insurer of ship operators, ports and terminals provider foresees a...

Diesel Fuel Price Rises 5 Cents.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Thomas L. Gallagher The national average retail price for a gallon of diesel fuel rose 5 cents during the week ending April 9 to $2.84, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported. The increase is the 10th consecutive...

Berkshire Boosts Investment in Bnsf Railway.
April 12, 2007... Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm controlled by Warren Buffett, substantially added to its investment in BNSF Railway. On April 6, Berkshire purchased more than 1.6 million shares to increase its total to 39 million shares, or a 10.9...

Tiny Coos Bay Catapulted into Container Port Spotlight.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto APM Terminals North America wants to build a big intermodal container terminal on North America''s west coast, and word that tiny Coos Bay, Ore., is one of three possible locations dropped like a bombshell on...

Prince Rupert Official Welcomes Sale of Maher Terminals.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Mark Wilson A German takeover of the U.S. company that will operate Prince Rupert''s new container terminal is being welcomed by port boss Don Krusel because the new owner has the financial heft to drive traffic growth at the...

None.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: Vancouver offers discounts for cleaner fuels Higher harbor dues for oceangoing vessels at the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia, went into effect this month, but vessel operators can still pay reduced rates if they use...

Mediterranean Shipping to Join Discussion Agreement.
April 12, 2007... Mediterranean Shipping Co., one of the fastest-growing carriers in the world, will join the ocean carrier discussion agreement in the eastbound Pacific in May. The decision by MSC to join the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement is...

Wtsa Recommends Increase in Wastepaper Rates.
April 12, 2007... Shipping lines that carry U.S. exports to Asia plan a two-stage increase in freight rates this year for wastepaper, a bellwether cargo in the westbound Pacific. Although it is a low-value cargo, wastepaper accounts for about 20 percent of...

Cargo Volume Grows at Mumbai.
April 12, 2007... Traffic at India''s western port of Mumbai increased 18.5 percent to a record 52.36 million tons in fiscal 2006-07, compared with 44.19 million tons the previous year. It was the first time the hub handled 50 million tons of cargo in a single...

Panama Canal Postpones Toll Hikes.
April 12, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority is postponing the implementation of its proposed new toll and pricing structure until July at the request of maritime industry users. It said it is reopening its pricing proposal to public comment and will...

Cma Cgm, Apl Plan Joint All-Water Services.
April 12, 2007... CMA CGM and APL plan to jointly launch two new all-water services between the Far East and the U.S. East Coast in June and July -- the first through the Suez Canal and the second via the Panama Canal. APL will provide the vessels for the...

Nehru Port Sets Container Record.
April 12, 2007... The Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, India''s busiest port, handled a record 3.3 million TEUs in fiscal 2006-07, up 24 percent from 2.67 million TEUs the prior year. The state-owned terminal handled 1.31 million TEUs, while the two private...

Penang to Expand Container Terminal.
April 12, 2007... The Port of Penang, Malaysia, is preparing the tender for Phase 3 of the $145 million expansion of the North Butterworth Container Terminal, its chief operating officer said. Mohd Naina Merican was quoted in the Edge Daily as saying that...

Volume at India''s Ports Rises 9.5 Percent.
April 12, 2007... Throughput at India''s major ports grew 9.5 percent in fiscal 2006-07, which ended on March 31. The country''s 12 major ports, six each on the west and east coasts, handled 463.8 million tons of cargo during the year compared with 423.6...

Hong Kong Beckons.
April 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Richard Knee There''s an old saying that if you arrive in Hong Kong in the morning, you can have a business up and running by that evening. And a ranking official with InvestHK, the agency that works to attract foreign...

Logistics Veteran Jeff Amos Dies.
April 12, 2007... Jeff Amos, a logistics industry veteran who held executive positions at Matson Navigation Co., Long Beach Container Terminal, Seatrain Lines, Myers Group and Don Breazeale and Associates consultants, died recently in Encinitas, Calif. He was...

Paulson Joins Washington Climate Team.
April 12, 2007... Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire has appointed Port of Vancouver Executive Director Larry Paulson to her Climate Advisory Team. The team is charged with providing guidance to the governor and her staff on environmental policy and strategy....

Nyk Logistics Names Americas Transportation Chief.
April 12, 2007... NYK Logistics (Americas) appointed John Lucas president of its transportation division. Lucas succeeds Lanny Vaughn, who is retiring but is remaining as a special adviser during the transition at the company. Lucas, who will be based...

Air Up Here.
April 19, 2007... When they called it the most comprehensive and ambitious air emissions survey ever produced in the Pacific Northwest, they were serious. The Puget Sound Air Emissions Inventory hit the streets earlier this month, and at 828 pages chockablock...

Canadian Lawmakers Act to End Cn Rail Strike.
April 19, 2007... Canada''s lawmakers on April 17 passed legislation ordering striking Canadian National Railway employees to return to work. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives by a 195-to-71 majority under an expedited process, was sent to...

Huge Growth Seen for Air Freighters.
April 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto The world''s air freighter fleet will grow to nearly 3,900 units through 2026, according to a Seattle-based consulting and research group. This will more than double the fleet size from the 1,801 freighters...

Horizon Chief Calls for Short-Sea Action.
April 19, 2007... The chief executive of the largest U.S.-flag ocean carrier said short-sea shipping is a necessary solution to the impending intermodal congestion crisis facing the U.S., and the maritime industry is ready to prove it if regulatory hurdles are...

Us Expands Anti-Nuke Container Inspections.
April 19, 2007... The departments of Homeland Security and Energy have started to roll out their programs to detect possible harmful nuclear material in containers bound for U.S. ports. On April 11, the DHS revealed that a test program is under way at...

Squeezing Out An All-Water Advantage.
April 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Rick Eyerdam and Peter Leach When the Panama Canal opens its third set of locks by 2015, it will revolutionize the economics of the trans-Pacific container trade and send shock waves into the Atlantic. While it may be 12 years...

Testing May Delay Twic Again.
April 19, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson Enrollment for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential will not begin until testing is complete on the underlying processing system, even if that means missing a July 1 deadline set by Congress, Edmund...

Us Launches Secure Freight Initiative.
April 19, 2007... The Department of Homeland Security is beginning the initial phase of the Secure Freight Initiative by testing radiation-detection systems in Pakistan and Honduras. The system will send data scanned at overseas ports to Customs and Border...

Dot Reopens Comment Period on Intermodal Chassis Rule.
April 19, 2007... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced this month that it has reopened the comment period for new rules on intermodal chassis maintenance and safety. The agency, part of the Department of Transportation, will accept...

Filing Rules at Issue for Importers, Customs.
April 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Peter T. Leach The different needs of the U.S. government and importers stood in sharp contrast earlier this month at the opening session of the 11th Annual Northeast Trade and Transportation Conference held in Newport, R.I., by...

Customs Adds C-Tpat Benefit.
April 19, 2007... Customs and Border Protection is developing procedures that will give trusted importers in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program an additional benefit designed to reduce container demurrage. Currently, when an...

Food and Drug Administration Plans to Restructure Agency.
April 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo PHOENIX, Ariz. -- The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to restructure its operations to provide importers with greater uniformity in product classification. Customs brokers meeting here on April 16...

Independent Truckers Tell Fda to Clean Up Food Hauling.
April 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Thomas L. Gallagher The Food and Drug Administration heard a scathing report from the trucking industry on unsanitary conditions in the hauling of fresh produce during a public hearing on April 13 in College Park, Md. ...

Trade Banker Blames Us for China Trade Deficit.
April 19, 2007... U.S. export controls are a major reason for the U.S. trade deficit with China, said Li Ruogu, chairman and president of the Chinese Export-Import Bank. While China plans to become a large-scale builder of jet aircraft by 2020, U.S....

Us Trade Gap Narrows.
April 19, 2007... The Commerce Department reported that the February trade deficit in goods and services was $58.4 billion, compared with $58.9 billion in January. However, the deficit still was about 5.2 percent of the gross domestic product. The decrease...

Matson Forms 3pl Unit.
April 19, 2007... Matson Integrated Logistics has formed a third-party logistics subsidiary, Matson Global Distribution Services. The subsidiary will expand Matson Integrated Logistics'' service menu to include warehousing, distribution, freight forwarding...