Pacific Shipper articles from July 2007

Pacific Shipper archives from July 2007

Short Wait to Amalgamate.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Amalgamate seems like an old-fashioned word, and one not used much anymore in the business world. Consolidate and unify are more popular. Maybe it''s a Canadian thing. Amalgamation is the term that the Canadian...

Tacoma Port Box Volume Down 13 Percent in May.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto A rocky May for the Port of Tacoma, in which container volume declined by nearly 13 percent, continued the port''s general downward trend for the year. Tacoma''s total international container volume,...

Ilwu Local Threatens Strike.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo While the main West Coast longshore contract expires next year, labor trouble could come to the docks much sooner. More than 900 members of a union local representing office workers in Southern California have...

La Issues Eir for TraPac Expansion.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall The Port of Los Angeles and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have prepared a joint Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for MOL''s TraPac Container Terminal expansion project. The...

Correction.(Correction notice)
July 5, 2007... A photograph on Page 92 in the June 11 issue in the story "Rail project fast-tracked in Vancouver, Wash.," is of the Industrial Rail Corridor at the Port of Longview, Wash.

Breakbulk Breaking No Records This Year.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Paul T. Rosynsky For those involved in the shipment of breakbulk goods on the West Coast, 2007 has not been what most hoped for. The record breaking year of 2006, fueled mostly by an import steel market not seen in history, left...

Lack of Technicians May Be Slowing Rfid Adoption.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By William Hoffman There''s a chicken-and-egg problem for radio-frequency identification technology: Is the logistics industry slow to adopt it because there aren''t enough skilled professionals to install and maintain RFID...

''Fast Track'' Expires.
July 5, 2007... President Bush has lost his power to seal "fast-track" trade agreements without intervention from Congress. Despite pleas from the National Association of Manufacturers and other business organizations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and...

Us, South Korea Sign Free-Trade Pact.
July 5, 2007... South Korea and the U.S. signed a free-trade agreement on June 30 that aims to open the Korean economy to more foreign investment and forge new links for U.S. companies in Asia. The agreement, which faces opposition from Democratic leaders in...

Left at the Dock?
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongellluzzo If you''re an importer or non-vessel-operating common carrier and you haven''t secured vessel space for this year''s peak season, beware. What you see now in Asia-to-U.S. capacity is all that will be there...

Private Equity Firm to Buy Stake in Chennai.
July 5, 2007... Global Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm formed by Credit Suisse and General Electric, has agreed to buy a 25 percent stake in the Chennai Container Terminal in India''s second-largest container port. The firm, which focuses...

Ictsi Unit Clinches Subic Terminal Deal.
July 5, 2007... Subic Bay International Terminal Corp, a unit of Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc., has been awarded the concession to operate the new container terminal at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The ICTSI unit...

Container Congestion Grows at Nehru Port.
July 5, 2007... India''s western Port of Jawaharlal Nehru has asked Container Corp. of India (Concor), the state-run intermodal logistics provider, to increase the number of trains serving the port to 22 per day from 16 currently operating, in an effort to...

Ckyh Alliance to Launch New Service.
July 5, 2007... The CKYH alliance this month will start a new pendulum service linking the Mediterranean, Asia and the U.S. The service will combine the existing CMX (China Mediterranean Express) service with the PAS (Pacific Southwest) service. ...

Russia Changes Poultry Policy.
July 5, 2007... The Russian government instituted a new inspection policy for U.S. poultry processors that want to sell to customers in Russia. Under terms of the latest agreement, the Russian government will no longer require inspection of each facility...

Yangshan Port Seeks Cold Storage Operator.
July 5, 2007... The Yangshan port, located in China''s Nanhui district, is the sole deep-water port in Shanghai, boasts an annual turnover of 13 million containers and is projected by many trade analysts to grow into the world''s top port sometime in the next...

Us Seeks Wto Review of Eu Banana Tariffs.
July 5, 2007... The U.S. wants the World Trade Organization to review whether tariffs set by the EU for importing bananas breaches its obligations to the WTO, the U.S. Trade Representative said. The move relates to the EU''s apparent failure to implement...

Fda Detains Imports of Chinese Seafood.
July 5, 2007... The Food and Drug Administration late last month announced it would detain imports of five species of farmed Chinese seafood until China can show that they are free of potentially dangerous antibiotics. The FDA said it would detain the...

Chinese Trade Surplus Expected to Top $100 Billion.
July 5, 2007... A senior government economist said China''s trade surplus for the first half of this year is expected to top $100 billion. Xinhua News Agency reported that total trade with the U.S. for the first half of 2007 is expected to top $1 trillion,...

Nol to Order Eight 10,000-Teu Ships.
July 5, 2007... NOL plans to order eight large, high-speed container ships worth approximately $1 billion. Each ship will have a capacity of 10,000 TEUs and a design speed of more than 26 knots when delivered in 2011. The Singapore-based parent of...

International Airfreight Grew 5 Percent in May.
July 5, 2007... International air cargo registered 5 percent growth in May, its strongest month since a 5.1 percent increase in May 2006, according to the International Air Transport Association. "The pickup in freight, led by Asia, could be the first sign...

Oocl Receives Last of Eight 5,888-Teu Ships.
July 5, 2007... OOCL took delivery of the last of the eight S-class 5,888-TEU container ships built by Imabari Shipbuilding Co. in Japan. The new ship was named the OOCL Italy in ceremonies at the Koyo Dockyard. It will be deployed in the Asia-East Coast...

Supply-Chain Insiders in $700 Million Counterfeit Ring.
July 5, 2007... The federal government has charged 29 individuals with smuggling $700 million worth of counterfeit consumer products into the United States. Among the defendants arraigned in three separate cases at U.S. District Court in Brooklyn were...

Maritime Groups Back Emissions Proposal.
July 5, 2007... Two maritime industry groups have thrown their support behind a U.S. proposal to set international limits on polluting emissions from vessels. The World Shipping Council, which represents carriers involved in the U.S. trades, endorsed the U.S....

A.P. Moller-Maersk Forms New Forwarding Division.
July 5, 2007... A.P. Moller-Maersk said it is combining the former forwarding arm of P&O Nedlloyd with a unit of Maersk Logistics to act as the Danish shipping group''s global forwarding arm. The new company, to be called Damco, will be formed by merging...

Maersk to Increase Fuel Fee.
July 5, 2007... Maersk Line will increase its bunker adjustment factor between Mediterranean ports and the U.S. and Canada on Aug. 1. The new bunker surcharges will be $453 per TEU, up from $399; and $906 per FEU, up from $798. The higher charge affects...

Oakland Uses Technology to Smooth Truck Traffic.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall Port truck operations in Southern California may have been put under a global microscope in the past year, but the Port of Oakland has been quietly tweaking the system there as well. In its efforts to cut...

Ports Delay Trucking Plan.
July 5, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall and Bill Mongelluzzo Last summer when harbor commissioners from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach unveiled a joint Clean Air Action Plan, they emphasized two points: They were united in goal and approach, and...

Vancouver Funds Projects to Fight Congestion.
July 5, 2007... The Vancouver (British Columbia) Port Authority will contribute up to $50 million toward road and rail grade separated crossings in communities along the Roberts Bank rail corridor, the rail line that serves the Deltaport container terminal and...

Long Beach Dedicates New Ocean Boulevard Roadway.
July 5, 2007... Faster commutes and reduced air pollution were celebrated on June 25 when the Port of Long Beach dedicated the successful completion of the $65 million Ocean Boulevard improvement project on Terminal Island. Eliminating two traffic signals...

Up Switches Out Emissions.
July 5, 2007... Union Pacific Railroad announced one of its environmental goals is in sight. According to the carrier, by the end of July it will have replaced the majority of switch locomotives used at its Commerce railyard with new environmentally friendly...

Long Beach, Yantian Sign ''green'' Pact.
July 5, 2007... Officials from the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Shenzhen, China, terminal operator Yantian International Container Terminals last month signed a memorandum of understanding to exchange technical information on their best environmental...

Senate Approves Funds for Columbia River Channel.
July 5, 2007... The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee late last month approved $15 million for the Columbia River Channel Improvement project for fiscal 2008. This additional funding will provide for further advance deepening of the channel from 40 to...

Mtc Donates $25,000 to Itep.
July 5, 2007... Marine Terminals Corp. recently presented a check for $25,000 to the International Trade Education Programs during a gathering of students representing the four ITEP academies, faculty and Banning High School. In attendance to receive the...

Long Beach Honors Bp Chairman Malone.
July 5, 2007... The Port of Long Beach has presented its highest honor, the Honorary Port Pilot Award, to Robert (Bob) Malone, chairman and president of BP America Inc. Malone is BP''s chief representative in the United States. He was appointed to his...

New Attitude.
July 12, 2007... Mario Cordero has been a member of the Harbor Commission at the Port of Long Beach since 2003. Earlier this month, he was elected president of the commission. It is normal, as at most Pacific ports, for the officer jobs to be rotated among...

Ilwu Clerical Workers Resume Contract Talks.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo On July 11, negotiations resumed between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and waterfront employers on contracts covering several hundred office clerical workers at marine terminals in the ports of...

Zim to Leave Portland in September.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto The Port of Portland, riding high since the addition of two trans-Pacific services last year, will lose one of those carriers, Zim Integrated Shipping Services, on Sept. 2. Zim notified the port of its decision...

Report in Japan Calls for Free-Trade Accords with Us, Eu.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Hisane Masaki A new government report is urging Japan to lay plans for free-trade agreements with the U.S. and the European Union. Japan''s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in its annual report on international trade...

Tote-Ing Goods to Alaska.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto If you''re used to seeing giant cranes splayed against the sky at the typical container or general cargo terminal, the Totem Ocean Trailer Express facility in Tacoma might be something of a shock. For one thing,...

The Tacoma-Alaska Connection.
July 12, 2007... Tacoma bills itself as the gateway to Alaska: * About 70 percent of all northbound dry cargo to Alaska is carried by Horizon Lines and Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) through Tacoma, and more than 25 percent of Tacoma''s total container...

Ssa Joins the Sales Parade.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Financial institutions have again demonstrated their appetite for marine terminal properties. The latest example came this month when Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners purchased a 49 percent stake in Carrix...

Export Controls Get More Scrutiny.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson James Bartlett was an officer in the Navy''s Judge Advocate General office in 1991 when the Tailhook scandal broke out. Female officers brought sexual harassment charges against the Navy after an incident in Las...

Retailers don''t Foresee Peak-Season Port Jam.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Container ports in the U.S. should remain congestion-free throughout the peak shipping season, according to the July Port Tracker released by Global Insight and the National Retail Federation. The only...

Court Urges Traffic Control for Ships.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Joseph Bonney Ruling on a case involving the 2002 sinking of a car carrier loaded with nearly 3,000 vehicles, a federal appeals court took the unusual step of urging maritime nations and vessel owners to develop better systems...

Cattle Group, Usda to Battle Mad Cow Disease Rules in Court.
July 12, 2007... A group of U.S. cattle producers wants a U.S. appeals court to look at a report by the Centers for Disease Control that says mad cow disease is 26 times more prevalent in Canada than in the United States. The Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal...

Us Cherry Production Up As Weather Cooperates.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill DiBenedetto The U.S. sweet and tart cherry crops from major cherry-growing states will set a record if projections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture are accurate. The USDA''s National Agricultural Statistics Service...

Hong Kong Still Vibrant.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By William Armbruster Margaret Fong was in a mood for reflection last month at receptions in Washington, New York and San Francisco that marked the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong''s return to Chinese sovereignty. "Many people were...

China Ends Foreign Currency Incentives.
July 12, 2007... China has scrapped a set of rules that provided incentives for exporters to repatriate foreign currency. The rules, introduced in response to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, encourage exports and inflows of foreign exchange....

Evergreen Extends Lease at Port of Kaohsiung.
July 12, 2007... Evergreen Marine Corp. (Taiwan) Ltd. has extended its lease to operate Container Terminal No. 5 at the Port of Kaohsiung for an additional 11 years and one month. The lease extension contract at Taiwan''s largest port covers the period...

Slowdown Hits Cochin Port.
July 12, 2007... An unofficial go-slow campaign that began earlier this month with a group of workers at India''s Port of Cochin is affecting normal operations at the country''s southern hub after port management implemented a 24-hour working schedule on July...

Panama Canal Authority Reviews Bids for Construction Work.
July 12, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority said it has begum to review bids for the first construction project under its multibillion-dollar expansion program. Submissions to perform the dry excavation of the new Pacific Locks access channel will be...

Psa Sical to Trim Box Volume at Tuticorin.
July 12, 2007... In a move that could have repercussions for the country''s containerized trade, PSA Sical, the private terminal operator at India''s southern Port of Tuticorin, has decided to scale back its container handling to bridge the gap between...

Caribbean Thrives with Cafta.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Richard Knee John Abisch believes the growth in U.S. trade with Central America and the Caribbean will soon double, and he says the transportation services and infrastructure in the region are ready for it. Abisch has a keen...

Biofuels Plant Planned in Vancouver, Wash.
July 12, 2007... Staff members at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., have negotiated an agreement to build a biofuels ethanol plant at the port''s Columbia Gateway project. A letter of intent calls for the port to lease 30 of the 75 total acres of planned industrial...

Prince Rupert Gears Up for First Container Ship.
July 12, 2007... BYLINE: By Mark Wilson The Prince Rupert Port Authority expects China Ocean Shipping Co. to account for half of the initial handling capacity of 500,000 TEUs a year to be provided by the new Fairview Container Terminal once the line begins...

La Chamber of Commerce, Ex-Im Bank Sign Financing Pact.
July 12, 2007... The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. have signed a partnership agreement that will allow small and medium-sized Southern California businesses to have easier access to financing and to compete in...

Former Mayor Named to Redwood City Port Commission.
July 12, 2007... Former Redwood City Mayor Dick Claire is the newest member of the Redwood City Board of Port Commissioners. The Redwood City Council recently appointed Claire and reappointed Ralph Garcia to the five-member board that governs the Port of...

Oakland Port Commission Re-Elects Batarse.
July 12, 2007... The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners last month re-elected Commissioner Anthony A. Batarse Jr. to serve another year as president. Commissioner Mark McClure was elected to serve as first vice president; Commissioner Darlene Ayers-Johnson...

Crowley Adds Cox to Anchorage Team.
July 12, 2007... Bob Cox has joined Crowley in the company''s petroleum distribution group as general manager. Cox is domiciled in the company''s Anchorage office and reports to Craig Tornga, vice president of petroleum distribution. In his new position,...

Strange Interlude.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto That was sudden, wasn''t it? Zim Integrated Shipping Services'' decision to abandon the Port of Portland scarcely 18 months after starting a service there has left officials scratching their heads. Zim and...

Garbage Strike Briefly Shuts Apm''s Oakland Terminal.
July 19, 2007... Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union briefly shut down the APM Terminals facility at the Port of Oakland on July 16 to honor a picket line by striking garbage-truck drivers. Teamsters locked out since July 2 in a...

Progress Reported in Talks Between Ilwu, Employers.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Contract negotiations between shipping lines and unionized office clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach continued last week after a strike deadline passed. Both sides reported progress...

Continental Cargo to Expand ClimateSecure Operation.
July 19, 2007... Continental Airlines Cargo has signed a new global contract with Envirotainer as part of its plan to expand services for temperature-controlled shipments. The new agreement will see the increased use of Envirotainer''s active...

China Reported Ripe for Logistics Investment.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Peter T. Leach China''s plans for expansion of its sea and river ports and rail infrastructure, particularly for inland container transport, are ripe for investment, according to a new report by Drewry Shipping Consultants. ...

Port Uses High Style to Tell Economic Story.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Stephanie Nall During its 100 years of existence, the Port of Los Angeles has climbed to the No. 1 position in the country as a container port and is the catalyst for tens of thousands of jobs in the region. But port...

Alameda Corridor Use Up.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo The Alameda Corridor is handling more containers than ever, and if the trend continues, the agency that operates the intermodal rail route may be able to retire its huge debt five to 10 years early. That''s good...

Tweaked by Twic.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson The patience shown by members of Congress with the Transportation Worker Identification Credential is apparently running out. At a mid-month hearing, members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure...

Congress Orders Closer Scrutiny of Asset Sales to Foreign Companies.
July 19, 2007... Congress has sent to President Bush legislation aimed at avoiding the kind of political storm that erupted last year after the government of Dubai acquired U.S. marine terminals owned by P&O Ports. The House earlier this month approved the...

Customs Commissioners Oppose Scan-All Proposal.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By R.G. Edmonson The current and immediate past commissioners of Customs and Border Protection have taken a unanimous stand against scanning 100 percent of U.S.-bound containers at foreign ports before they are loaded aboard ships....

''K'' Line Says Profit Will Be Higher Than Forecast.(Financial report)
July 19, 2007... When "K" Line releases its first-quarter results on July 26, the figure for its operating profit will be 20 percent higher than forecast. Company President Hiroyuki Maekawa told Bloomberg that the higher operating profit resulted from rising...

Securing Food Safety.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By William Hoffman Nearly every week seems to bring another alarm about food supply chains in distress, but industry experts say the problem isn''t in the supply chain, but the source. That leaves the transporters and logistics...

Supply-Demand Guessing Game.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Peter T. Leach When carriers and shippers negotiate shipping contracts, they bring briefcases full of estimates of vessel capacity and demand. Carriers wield forecasts that capacity will be tight and the demand for it high, and...

Apl''s IndiaLinx to Expand Container Train Operation.
July 19, 2007... IndiaLinx, the local logistics arm of Singapore-based liner operator APL, plans to spend $60 million over the next two years to expand its recently launched container-rail-freight service in the country. At a recent trade event, company...

Japan, China Postal Services Reach Cooperation Agreement.
July 19, 2007... The postal services of Japan and China have announced a comprehensive business partnership in an apparent bid to counter competition from express carriers in the United States and Europe. At a meeting in Beijing earlier this month, Japan...

Msc to Boost Rates on Wastepaper Exports.
July 19, 2007... Mediterranean Shipping Co. will request a general rate increase for shipments of commodity wastepaper moving to the Far East as of Aug. 1. The Geneva-based company said market conditions, including rising fuel costs and other operational...

Rates to Climb from Southeast Asia to Australia.
July 19, 2007... Member lines of the Southeast Asia and South Asia-Australia Trade Facilitation Agreement have implemented a rate increase as part of their previously announced business plan for 2007. Effective July 1, freight rates on cargo shipped from...

Maersk Predicts Bigger Spike in Peak-Season Volume.
July 19, 2007... One of the largest buyers of truck and rail transportation services is expecting a much bigger spike in demand during this year''s fall peak shipping season. Wim Lagaay, senior vice president and area operations manager at Maersk Line,...

Ila''s Bowers Calls for End to Tiered Wages, Box-Royalty Caps.
July 19, 2007... International Longshoremen''s Association President John Bowers said that the next ILA contract should abolish tiered wages and container-royalty caps that have been a lightning rod for criticism from union dissidents. Bowers spoke last...

Apl Logistics Wins Military Contract.
July 19, 2007... APL Logistics won a contract to handle consolidated transportation and import logistics for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. The contract is one of APL''s largest military logistics deals after 12 years of working with AAFES, which...

Argentina: a Shipper''s Market.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Richard Knee Growing competition among ocean carriers promises to keep Argentina in the shippers'' market column. "Argentina is a modern country, with modern port systems," said Allen Clifford, executive vice president of...

Portland Beckons.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo The announcement that Zim Integrated Shipping Services will suspend its Portland service in September stirred up unpleasant memories for the Oregon port, which is trying to establish itself as a load center in...

River Port Downplays Disadvantages.
July 19, 2007... BYLINE: By Bill Mongelluzzo Portland executives are tired of hearing about the port''s geographical handicaps -- that they''re nine hours from open sea, that two pilots must be hired to guide ships up the Columbia River, and that the...

Pacific Harbor Line Goes Green.
July 19, 2007... Pacific Harbor Line, a short-line railroad that performs switching operations in Los Angeles-Long Beach, earlier this month commissioned a fleet of locomotives that will significantly reduce pollution from rail operations. The new power...