Pacific Shipper articles from March 2005

Pacific Shipper archives from March 2005

Paranoia Strikes Deep.(Petroleum Price Targets)
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Maybe it's just part of the DNA of one who grew up as a writer and journalist in Washington D.C. during the Watergate years. It's hard not to see, or at least thoroughly suspect, special-interest conspiracies...

Increase Supply-Chain Productivity.
March 4, 2005... NOL Group President and Chief Executive David Lim said there is a need to focus efforts on greatly increasing throughput in the cargo supply chain, rather than simply growing capacity, in order to meet the expanding global demands of customers....

Horizon Lines Files Ipo.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Horizon Lines, the largest U.S.-flag ocean carrier, last week said that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of shares of its common stock. Horizon, based in...

Rails Forecast Improved Intermodal Performance.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Shippers should see marginal improvement in peak-season intermodal rail performance this year, representatives of the two major western railroads told the 5th Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference, sponsored by The Journal of Commerce. ...

Dhl Reports Big 2004 Loss.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Deutsche Post World Net, the German mail, express and logistics conglomerate, reported that 2004 profit rose 21 percent as it slashed costs, boosted its parcel-delivery business in Asia, and capped losses at DHL, its...

Huge Ships, Congestion, Growth Creating Problems and Opportunities.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo West Coast ports have enough latent capacity to accommodate the projected growth in cargo volume for the next 10 years if they increase their throughput per acre by about 40 percent, according to marine engineers....

Shippers Look for Leverage.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach With two months left before the May 1 start of most new shipper-carrier contracts in the trans-Pacific trades, shippers are looking for leverage. Some are finding it by cooperating with carriers by providing them...

Us Forest Products Companies Target China, Other Global Markets.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Alan M. Field U.S. forest products companies want to open markets around the world, especially in China. When a team of U.S. paper products executives toured China recently, they visited a warehouse piled high with baled paper...

Us, Eu Meet on Airbus-Boeing Dispute.(European Union)
March 4, 2005... Top trade negotiators for the U.S. and European Union met last month to pursue a deal to eliminate subsidies for trans-Atlantic aircraft rivals Boeing Co. and Airbus, a U.S. government official said. The meeting in Washington between Acting...

Report Says Ports Remain Vulnerable to Nuclear Threat.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Defense in depth is the best way to reduce the vulnerability of ports to a terrorist nuclear attack, according to a Congressional Research Service report. Using several methods of detecting a nuclear weapon, such as radiation detectors and...

Us to Set Strict Rules on Canadian Cattle Imports.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... The U.S. will implement strict rules on imports of Canadian cattle when imports resume on this month, according to a published report. The rules will include everything from how trucks are sealed to age-verification measures for live...

Electronic Export Declaration System Making Progress.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson The venerable Shipper's Export Declaration is going the way of nickel Cokes and 50-cent gasoline. The SED form that been used for years to collect U.S. export statistics will disappear by the end of the year, when new...

Matson Orders Ships, Plans China Service.(Matson Navigation Co)
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo With its core business in the Hawaii and Guam trade showing modest prospects for growth, Matson Navigation Co. is planning to enter the rapidly growing but highly competitive China trade. Matson announced on...

Dispute Panels Set in Us-Canada Lumber Battle.
March 4, 2005... The World Trade Organization on Feb. 25 set up a panel to decide if Canada can apply $3.4 billion in sanctions against the U.S. in the countries' long-running lumber dispute, officials said. Washington waived its right to oppose Ottawa's...

Boeing Selling Assets to Cut Expenses.
March 4, 2005... Onex Corp., a Canadian holding company, will acquire Boeing Co.'s Wichita-Tulsa commercial airplanes unit in an agreement reached by the companies in February. The deal includes Commercial Airplanes Division facilities and assets in Wichita,...

Oakland Dredging Plan Gets a Boost.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall A move by the Bush administration to judge dredging projects by economic benefits rather than by political support has catapulted Oakland's plan to go to 50 feet from the drawing board to the top of the heap. ...

PierPass Registrations Begin This Month.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo PierPass, the entity established by terminal operators in Los Angeles-Long Beach to administer a fee-based program of extended gates, will begin this month to register cargo owners for the program. The...

West Coast Ports Post Big January Teu Totals.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo West Coast ports in January began the year the way they ended 2004, with double-digit growth in containerized imports from Asia. Imports through the West Coast in January increased about 10.4 percent over January...

Shippers Push Benefits of All-Water Services.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: William Armbruster Over the last 20 years or so, East Coast shippers typically were willing to pay the higher cost of landbridge services from the West Coast because they could save as much as 10 to 15 days in total transit time....

Shipping Industry Hits Proposed Us Seaway Tolls.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Alex Binkley The imposition of tolls on the two U.S. St. Lawrence Seaway locks starting next year is a regrettable move, say shipping industry spokesmen. Meanwhile, Albert Jacquez, administrator of the St. Lawrence Seaway...

Us Encouraged on New Open Skies Deal with Canada.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Courtney Tower The U.S. and Canada can move ahead quickly toward a new, more open air-service agreement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said last month. After meeting with Jean Lapierre, transport minister of...

Yellow Roadway Planning Another Merger?(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Yellow Roadway Corp. and USF Corp. are discussing a deal in which Yellow would acquire USF for $1 billion, according to a news report. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported the discussions on Feb. 23 edition. If completed,...

Nailing It:Improving the Home Is Big Business.(Company Profile)
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Two big U.S. retailers have found a way to tap into a basic human activity, especially in the U.S. -- the need to maintain, improve, update, upgrade, remodel and otherwise redo the old house, or even the new one,...

Heavy Investment Could Make It a Big Source of Finished Products in Five Years.
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Richard Knee The flow of finished products from the Mediterranean region could start to increase in about five years, according to Kary Brown, who analyzes the shipping environment for Conflo Lines, a vessel operator based in the...

Europe Increases Pressure on China.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard The European Union's top trade official has called for tougher curbs on Chinese exports of textiles and clothing, foreshadowing a more aggressive stance toward Beijing's trade policies. China must trade freely and...

Baltimore Port Chief Resigns.
March 4, 2005... The Maryland Department of Transportation launched a nationwide search to find a replacement for James J. White, executive director of the Port of Baltimore. White abruptly resigned on Feb. 24 when a report in the Baltimore Sun disclosed that a...

Ups to Expand Louisville Hub, Close Dayton Facility.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... UPS, after announcing it would close its Dayton, Ohio, air facility in 2006, said it will build a 785,257-square-foot expansion at its Louisville, Ky., hub. The $82.5 million project would make Louisville the premier hub for sorting UPS's...

Trucking Companies, Shippers Could Face Testy Risk Issues.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Trucking companies employing drivers who are denied hazardous materials endorsements could face sticky liability issues -- and shippers could face them also. Tim Wiseman, an attorney in the Indianapolis office of Scopelitis, Garvin, Light...

Northwest, Korean Air in Code-Share Pact.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Northwest Airlines and Korean Air have formed a code-sharing agreement that will allow the airlines to carry cargo on each other's scheduled freighter flights between Asia and the U.S., providing new destinations, faster service and more...

Simulations Aid Tacoma Facility Planning.
March 4, 2005... The Port of Tacoma says giving current and potential customers tools to upgrade their operations and increase efficiency is a useful marketing tool. Udo Mehlberg, the port's technology project manager and business analyst, recently...

Kansas City Southern Promotes Three.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Kansas City Southern announced the promotions of R. Michael Chapman to senior vice president of transportation, Michael R. Bilovesky to vice president of marketing for agriculture and minerals, and Thomas A. Campbell to assistant vice president...

Harbor Police Officers Honored.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Two San Diego Harbor Police officers were presented with life saving commendation award certificates and uniform bars at last month's board of port commissioners meeting. The uniform bar is a badge indicating the officer saved a life. ...

Seko Opens Office in Spokane, Wash.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... SEKO, a global provider of freight-forwarding and logistics solutions, announced it has opened a new office in Spokane, Wash. It is one of many new offices being opened both domestically and internationally. The Spokane office provides a...

Menlo Reorganizing Global Network.(Menlo Worldwide)(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Menlo Worldwide is reorganizing of its international network of operations in Asia, Europe and South America. The moves follow the sale of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding by parent CNF to UPS in December. In Hong Kong, Menlo opened a new...

Cosco Pacific Expects Jump in 2004 Profit.(Brief Article)
March 4, 2005... Cosco Pacific Ltd. is expected to report a 29 percent rise in 2004 net profit next week, driven by robust growth in its container leasing and port operations, according to analysts' forecasts. The average of estimates by 19 brokerages...

Recycling the Future.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall Measured in terms of education and training, I'm decidedly low-tech. But in terms of interest, I love high-tech gadgets and solutions. When science can be used to solve a problem outside the seeming boundaries...

Oakland Gets New Cranes.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Heavy seas in the San Francisco Bay delayed delivery of two 24-story cranes to the Port of Oakland. The Zhen Hua 1 anchored two miles outside the Golden Gate Bridge and waited for two days for calmer conditions in order to fold the apexes of...

China Shipping to Buy 39 Ships.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... China Shipping Group Ltd., that country's second-largest ocean carrier, will buy 39 vessels this year at a cost of 8 billion yuan ($966 million) to meet increasing demand. The purchases come as part of the company's plan to be running a...

Ports Delay Cut in Free Time.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo California ports have decided to delay a plan to reduce free time shippers are permitted to store containers at ports. The busy ports are looking for ways to avoid a repeat of last year's congestion in Los...

IIWU Plans Bay Area Protest.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said it plans a protest and will not work any cargo at California ports in the Bay Area March 19. ILWU Local 10 said in an e-mail that the rally will honor an international day of protest...

NOL Traffic, Revenue Grow in 2005.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Neptune Orient Lines, parent of APL, said volume for the first six weeks of the year totaled 215,300 FEUs, up 24 percent from 173,300 FEUs a year ago. Average revenue per FEU was $2,802, an increase of 9 percent from $2,564. Logistics...

Seafood Shippers Scramble to Meet Demand.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Moura Steinberg As the desire for live, fresh and frozen seafood increases globally, so will challenges and problems as more companies and countries enter this growing market. When Michael Tourkistas moves seafood from Canada...

Can Security, Supply Chain Mesh?(Electronic Product Code Group)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson This is not yet the clash of the RFID titans, but two emerging standards for radio-frequency identification technology are converging. The worst that could happen would be for the two to clash. The best is that the...

House Turns Focus to Highway Bill.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Angela Greiling Keane Some members of Congress want to sharpen the teeth of the federal government's truck safety watchdog. The highway bill being considered by the House of Representatives would give the Federal Motor Carrier...

Mexican Court Blocks Pnw Apple Deal.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto A Mexican court has temporarily blocked a deal to end a 46.6 percent tariff on U.S. apples, effectively squashing apple growers' hopes of increasing sales of this year's near-record crop to that country. The...

Boeing's Scandals Continue: Stonecipher Ousted.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Harry Stonecipher, Boeing Co.'s president and chief executive since December 2003, was forced to resign last week after a whistleblower revealed that he was involved in an affair with a female Boeing executive. ...

Canadian Ports Get Investment Authority.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Courtney Tower Amid increasing competition for container traffic, Canada will open up its ports to previously forbidden private investment and public grants. Jean Lapierre, federal transport minister, confirmed in an interview...

Ports Mix Community Concerns with Business Plans.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Shipping lines and terminal operators are undergoing a major cultural shift, which has raised community concerns and environmental stewardship to the same level of awareness as business needs. "I feel good...

Texas Ports Collaborate.(Port of Houston and Port of Victoria )(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Two Texas ports have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an intermodal service that would reduce highway congestion and air emissions. The ports of Houston and Victoria plan to seek an operator for a container-on-barge service...

Egl Posts Record 2004 Revenue.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... EGL Inc., the global transportation and supply-chain services provider, reported a 31 percent surge in revenues for the fourth quarter to $802 million, and for 2004 revenues jumped 28 percent to $2.7 billion, the highest level in the company's...

China's Caribbean Trade Up.
March 11, 2005... Caribbean trade with China reached $2 billion last year, a 42.5 percent increase from 2003, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. However, the U.S. government is not concerned. "China's intensified interest in the Western Hemisphere...

Intermarine Moves Asian Headquarters.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Intermarine has moved its Asian headquarters from Seoul, South Korea, to Shanghai, China. Richard Seeg, area manager of Intermarine, will continue his overall commercial direction and control of the company's services and agents throughout...

US, Brazil Say FTAA Progressing.(Free Trade Area of the Americas )(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The Bush administration said talks to create the Free Trade Area of the Americas are moving in a positive direction. U.S. Trade Representative officials met in Washington with their counterparts from Brazil Feb. 22-23 to continue developing a...

Industry Seeks Expansion of Panama Canal.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The Panama Canal is nearing full capacity and should seriously consider expansion to continue to be a major player in world trade, according to maritime experts and canal users at a recent conference. The canal is currently operating at...

Tmm Expands Link from Asia to Central America.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... TMM Lines is launching a new service designed to accommodate the growing trade between Central America and Asia. The Mexico west coast-Central American service, operating once every 10 days, will call at Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico to link...

Maersk Sealand Leaves Iraqi Port.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: William Armbruster Maersk Sealand has halted its operations at the Port of Khor Az Zubayr in southern Iraq after a demonstration outside the port on March 2 turned violent, the carrier said. Maersk said in a statement that...

FedEx Begins New Europe-China Flight.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has launched what it claims is the express air-cargo industry's first direct flight from mainland China to Europe. The flights will provide daily service from Shanghai, China, to Frankfurt, Germany,...

Growth Seen for Chinese Lines.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Hong Kong-listed shipping lines and port operators are expecting to present firm 2004 profits, reflecting a rush in the mainland's exports and its vigorous importation of raw materials. China Shipping Development Co. is expected to post a...

Malaysian Port Adds Cranes.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: P.T. Bangsberg The Port of Tanjung Pelepas in southern Malaysia near Singapore is adding 15 rubber-tired gantry cranes to keep pace with growth that has made it the fastest-expanding hub in Southeast Asia. The first pair of...

Honduras Ratifies CAFTA.(Central American Free Trade Agreement)(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The Honduran Congress has ratified the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the free-trade pact involving the five nations of Central America, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Honduras is the second country in the region,...

Judge Blocks Canada Beef Imports.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... A Montana judge on March 2 blocked the resumption of Canada's beef exports to the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture must now decide whether to appeal the injunction in an effort to reopen the border for Canadian cattle under 30...

Dry-Bulk Rates to Ease.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Shipping rates for iron ore, coal and other dry-bulk commodities are set to fall this year from a record in 2004 as new ships boost available capacity and demand growth slows, Oslo-based R.S. Platou Shipbrokers said. A slower growth in global...

Opposition to Security Plan Could Shut Down Vancouver.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Courtney Tower Opposition by union dockworkers to tougher security measures at the Port of Vancouver could lead to a shutdown of the western Canada gateway later this year. The more than 3,500 Canadian members of the...

Schiphol Boosts Security after Diamond Robbery.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Military police are to guard valuable cargo at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport after thieves hijacked a security truck in what may have been the country's biggest-ever diamond raid. The announcement by the Dutch government came after the number...

Senator Pushes Container Security.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Angela Greiling Keane Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, last month introduced the Intermodal Shipping Container Security Act, which would require the Department of Homeland Security to meld all modes of cargo security into one...

Chertoff Wants Homeland Security Review.(Michael Chertoff)(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson New Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that he is undertaking a comprehensive review of the department's organization, operations and policies. "As the department marks its two-year anniversary this...

High Charter Rates Hit United States Lines.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Shippers have always supported the presence of independent liner companies in the busy Asia-to-West Coast trade, but small niche operators are finding it increasingly difficult to compete in the busiest U.S. trade...

Taiwan.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Richard Knee Amid China's rapid rise as an economic powerhouse, the United States and Taiwan remain important trading partners to each other. Among U.S. trading partners, Taiwan ranks eighth overall, ninth among customers and...

Facts on Taiwan.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Area: 35,980 square kilometers (slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined). Population: 22,749,838 (July 2004 estimate). Median age: 33.7 years. Literacy rate: 96.1. Gross domestic product: $528.6 billion (2003...

Intermodal Leads Rail Traffic.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... U.S. railroads moved 1,374,185 carloads in February, up 5.3 percent, and 885,038 intermodal trailers and containers, up 13.8 percent compared with February 2004, according to the Association of American Railroads. The increase was the...

Air Cargo Rising, But How Far?(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Whether you think the air-cargo industry is in full rebound for U.S. carriers may depend on how far back you look. Paced by a strong December finish, air-cargo traffic grew significantly in 2004. But despite a strong year, domestic cargo...

January Airfreight Shows Global Spike.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The Air Transportation Association said international cargo volumes increased 14.9 percent in January, up from a monthly decline of 0.9 percent and above growth of 11.4 percent in 2004. Volumes benefited from strong Pacific growth of 22.4...

Canadian Rail Shippers Say Service Lacking.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: John Gallagher The biggest challenge for Canadian National Railway and rival Canadian Pacific Railway this year may not be proving they can run an efficient, fluid operation but showing shippers they can provide top-notch service....

Shippers Hit Cut in LA Free Time.(Los Angeles)
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo The Los Angeles Customs Brokers & Freight Forwarders Association has asked California ports to reconsider their intention of reducing the time that containers can be kept on the docks before a storage fee is...

Barge Service Links Philadelphia, Baltimore.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Columbia Coastal Transport announced the start of a new weekly container barge service linking the ports of Baltimore and Philadelphia. The company's 450-TEU barge, the Columbia Charleston, will be deployed on a weekly Philadelphia to...

Teamsters Protest at Port of Miami.
March 11, 2005... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam At least 300 Teamsters, including the union's port leadership, rallied in support of independent truckers at the Port of Miami March 3. The union protesters from around the nation were attending a conference in...

Ceres-Yusen Hires Baltimore Official.(appoints James J. White)(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... James J. White, who resigned as executive director of the Port of Baltimore on March 3, was named senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Ceres Terminals and Yusen Terminals organizations just four days later. White will...

Port of Corpus Christi Gets Military Backing.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The state of Texas will spend $5.2 million to upgrade the rail infrastructure at the Port of Corpus Christi to improve the port's ability to handle military cargo. The funding became available after the Department of Defense and the...

Port of Tacoma Approves Property Sales.
March 11, 2005... The Port of Tacoma Commission late last month authorized an agreement with Pierce County, approving a $4.1 million sale of 45 acres of port industrial property in Frederickson to the county. The move sets the stage for construction of a new...

Port of Seattle Posts Gains in Financial Results.
March 11, 2005... The Port of Seattle's operating income after depreciation last year increased 88 percent to $52.1 million, the port reported this month. Its operating revenues, meanwhile, increased 17 percent to $376.6 million. The ports of Seattle and...

Osprey Adds New Orleans to Sea Trader Service.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Osprey Line has added the Port of New Orleans to its weekly Gulf service, utilizing its Sea Trader vessel. Osprey began the short-sea service between Houston; Tampa, Fla.; and Brownsville, Texas; last fall, with calls at New Orleans on an...

Carriers Tweak Gulf Service.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Maersk Sealand is cutting back on one Gulf service, while NYK is adding capacity to another. Maersk Sealand has announced plans to curtail its direct eastbound sailing on its MedGulf service in May. Maersk plans to provide a transshipment...

Seattle Names Naval Officer to Head Seaport Security.(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... The Port of Seattle named Gary Buchanan, a veteran naval officer and human resources professional, as acting head of seaport security. Buchanan has been a port employee since 1999 and is manager of human resources services at Sea-Tac...

Pacer Names Munn.(Alex Munn joins Pacer International Inc)(Brief Article)
March 11, 2005... Alex Munn, formerly chief information officer of Pacer International Inc., was promoted to chief operating officer, a new position. The North America logistics and transportation provider also promoted Ron Maillette to chief information...