Pacific Shipper articles from September 2007

Pacific Shipper archives from September 2007

Getting strait.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto The next big thing for Alaska might not be a natural gas pipeline or a new rail line, but something else -- a tunnel that combines all of the above. The idea is to link the United States and Russia with a road and...

Portland TEUs rise 38 percent.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto The Port of Portland, Ore., continued its robust container volume growth, moving 148,360 TEUs during the January-July period, an increase of 37.9 percent over the same period a year ago. That growth was...

Maersk Line narrows losses on higher box rates.
September 3, 2007... A.P. Moller-Maersk said its first-half profit increased 19 percent on strong economic growth in Asia and higher container rates. Net income rose to 8.3 billion kroner ($1.5 billion) from about $1.3 billion last year, the Copenhagen-based...

Seattle tops Tacoma volume.
September 3, 2007... The Port of Seattle parlayed one of its strongest months of the year in July. It surpassed its chief rival 35 miles south, the Port of Tacoma, in container volume through the first seven months of the year. Tacoma box volume dipped 5.6...

Seattle port backs vessel emissions standards.
September 3, 2007... The Seattle Port Commission has endorsed a U.S. proposal to the International Maritime Organization that calls for more stringent air emissions standards for oceangoing vessels. "We are taking action locally to make sure our seaport...

US steel imports drop.
September 3, 2007... During the first seven months of 2007, U.S. steel imports declined 5.9 million tons, or 21.7 percent from the same period last year, according to data compiled by the American Institute for International Steel. Imports totaled 21 million...

Correction.(Correction notice)
September 3, 2007... The editorial in the Aug. 27 issue, titled "Taxing questions," should have stated that voters in Vancouver, Wash., rejected an industrial bond levy that would have benefited the Port of Vancouver, Wash. 

China: open for business.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall China has firmly grabbed the title of the world's factory and doesn't seem willing to give it up. Shipments of electronics, clothing and automobiles are streaming out of factories in the world's most populous nation....

Managing credit risks in China.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: William Armbruster Making sure you get paid the amount due can be a challenge when you're doing business in countries with different accounting systems, different approaches to managing credit relationships between buyers and...

NS, UP ramp up cross-country service.
September 3, 2007... Western rail giant Union Pacific and eastern carrier Norfolk Southern are using the Meridian Speedway rail corridor to ramp up their cross-country intermodal service, starting on Sept. 10. The carriers said they will shift westbound...

CMA CGM acquires 'eco-containers'.
September 3, 2007... CMA CGM is breaking into the eco-friendly market with its latest purchase of 20-foot containers. The world's third-largest container shipping company needed 30,000 boxes. Purchasing bamboo-floored 20-foot containers, styled "eco-containers,"...

Rail intermodal reflects weak peak season start.
September 3, 2007... The railroad freight recession eased in the third week of August as carload traffic declined a little less than the average for the year to date. Total volume in the week ending Aug. 18 was 35.3 billion ton-miles, down just 0.3 percent...

Industrial orders hit records.
September 3, 2007... Manufacturing took a major leap forward in July as new orders, shipments, unfilled orders and inventories all hit record highs, according to a report released on Aug. 24 by the U.S. Census Bureau. New orders for manufactured durable goods...

Mexico implements 24-hour rule.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Mexico's implementation of a 24-hour rule for imported cargo on Sept. 1 was nearly a non-event. Shippers, carriers and intermediaries had barely a month's notice that Mexico Customs would activate the rule, but it had...

Shippers criticize passport rule.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Courtney Tower Trade and transportation interests have renewed their opposition to a U.S. plan to require passports for travelers entering the U.S. at land border crossings with Canada and Mexico, saying it will increase costs and...

Horizon Lines acquires Aero Logistics.
September 3, 2007... Horizon Lines has acquired Aero Logistics, a full-service, third-party logistics provider based in San Francisco. The acquisition came shortly after Charlotte, N.C.-based Horizon split its business into two subsidiaries, forming Horizon...

Nehru port terminal to ban transshipments.
September 3, 2007... Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal at India's busiest port of Jawaharlal Nehru is planning to suspend the handling of transshipment containers in a bid to reduce congestion at the terminal. "Currently, the terminal is rather...

Japan, ASEAN nations reach free-trade agreement.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Hisane Masaki Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have reached a free-trade agreement that would eliminate import tariffs on more than 90 percent of goods traded between the parties by value. The...

Evergreen, Wan Hai plan Japan-Thailand service.
September 3, 2007... Evergreen Marine and Wan Hai Lines will start a joint service on Sept. 25, linking Hong Kong with Japan and Thailand. The Japan-Thailand Express Service will provide improved service between Japan and Thailand, especially in the northbound...

Nehru boxes up 23 percent.
September 3, 2007... The Port of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's busiest seaport, handled nearly 1.3 million 20-foot containers in the April-July period, an increase of 23 percent over the same period a year ago. The port-operated terminal handled 404,146 TEUs, while...

New service to boost Chennai.
September 3, 2007... India's Chennai Container Terminal, operated by DP World, expects to handle more than 1 million TEUs this year, up from 830,000 TEUs in 2006. The announcement comes after the first vessel in a new direct service linking India, South Korea...

India consolidators increase LCL rates.
September 3, 2007... Members of the Consolidators Association of India plan to implement a rate increase for less-than-containerload shipments. The move comes after member lines in the India-Pakistan-Bangladesh-Ceylon Conferences implemented three westbound...

Japan shrinks trade surplus.
September 3, 2007... Japan's merchandise trade surplus contracted in July for the first time in nine months, shrinking more than 20 percent from the same month in 2006, according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry. Exports, led by...

LA's terminal expansion delays chase carriers to Long Beach.
September 3, 2007... The TraPac container terminal in the Port of Los Angeles has announced the loss of three liner customers that are taking their business to neighboring Long Beach because of the prolonged delay in approval of terminal expansion plans. TraPac...

Oakland power test deemed success.
September 3, 2007... The results are official: The Port of Oakland said a mid-July test of a new system of cold ironing completely eliminated carbon monoxide and particulate matter emissions from a container vessel docked at the port. The APL China on July 18...

FedEx expands transborder service.
September 3, 2007... FedEx expanded its Transborder Distribution service between the United States and Mexico, saying it can now move cargo from maquiladora factories and other duty-deferred programs south of the border to U.S. destinations in one to five days,...

Voters reject tax to aid Port of Vancouver, Wash.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Port of Vancouver, Wash., officials said they will alter plans for development after voters soundly defeated a proposed industrial development tax. "The community has let us know they don't support the IDD...

NASSCO begins work on Jones Act product vessel.
September 3, 2007... General Dynamics NASSCO last Monday began construction of its first product carrier ship for U.S. Shipping Partners. NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics, said it is building the Jones Act ship from designs provided through its...

Pharmaceuticals lead the way on air-cargo profits.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Ian Putzger In these troubled times, rapid growth and stable yields are strong magnets for air-cargo carriers. Perhaps no segment is stronger and more stable right now than the temperature-controlled cargo market. Some...

Customs urged to emphasize border agriculture inspections.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Customs and Border Protection should raise the profile of its agriculture inspection operations in its overall border security strategy, according to a report issued by the agency and the Animal and Plant Health...

The unvarnished truth.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall An ongoing move has me thinking about paint, varnish and really ugly cover-ups. I'm moving into a house with a room coated with high-gloss red paint. The color (I call it brain hemorrhage red) covered what I know is...

TSA carriers say healthy growth in volume will continue.
September 10, 2007... Major ocean carriers in the trans-Pacific expect trade between Asia and the United States to moderate but still grow at a healthy pace next year, as expanded ocean shipping capacity aligns with cargo volumes. The Transpacific Stabilization...

Panama Canal breaks ground on expansion project.
September 10, 2007... A crowd estimated at 30,000 joined government and business leaders last week at a ceremony to mark the groundbreaking for the Panama Canal's expansion project. The multibillion-dollar project will add a third lane and a new set of locks,...

Federal judge blocks California ship fuel rule.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo A U.S. District Court judge ruled this month that California cannot order vessels entering state waters to burn low-sulfur diesel fuel unless the federal Environmental Protection Agency first grants the state a...

'Strunnel' could transform Alaska's transport system.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto While the United States, Russia and Canada joust over claims to the mineral riches of the Arctic Sea beneath the North Pole, another longtime dream near the top of the world waits in the wings. It's a dream...

Group says clean trucks plan carries $4.2 billion in benefits.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo and Stephanie Nall The controversial trucking portion of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Clean Air Action Plan will produce a $4.2 billion economic benefit for harbor truck drivers, local communities and taxpayers,...

Stockton port settles expansion battle, plans cleanup.
September 10, 2007... Late last month, the Port of Stockton, Calif., environmental activists and local residents reached a settlement that ended a three-year legal battle that halted the port's expansion plans at the former Rough and Ready Island naval supply base....

Court rules Mexican trucks can operate throughout the US.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter A federal appeals court has refused to block a pilot program to allow as many as 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate throughout the U.S. during the next year, but not everyone is booing the news. "Having to...

Widespread product recalls stretch reverse logistics networks.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Any supply-chain manager can empathize with his counterparts at Mattel, the toymaker that's recalling 19 million Chinese-made toys for safety reasons. Regular logistics can be difficult. "Reverse logistics" is even...

India's trade gap expands.
September 10, 2007... India's trade deficit expanded to $5 billion in July from $4 billion in the same month in 2006, as the strengthening rupee continued to affect export growth, according to data released by India's Ministry of Commerce. During the...

Developer earmarks $1.3 billion for India port expansion.
September 10, 2007... Reliance Group, one of India's largest private-sector conglomerates, said it will invest an estimated $1.3 billion to develop the Port of Rewas near Mumbai on the country's west coast. Officials said work on the first phase of the project...

NYK's test of shore-side power unit a success.
September 10, 2007... NYK Line last week announced that its soon-to-be-delivered 8,600-TEU container ship has successfully tested a new shore-side electric power unit. The ship will be delivered at the end of September at the Aioi Shipyard of IHI Marine United...

NYK to close US bulk unit.
September 10, 2007... NYK Line, Japan's largest shipping line, has decided to dissolve one of its U.S. subsidiaries, NYK Bulkship (USA) Inc. The decision came at a board meeting on Aug. 30; the line said it would unify the management of its Atlantic tramp...

Schenker-Seino opens new logistics center in Japan.
September 10, 2007... Schenker-Seino in Japan has opened a new logistics center in Ichikawa, bringing the Schenker network to more than 24 locations throughout the East Asian nation. The logistics center offers 161,460 square feet of warehouse space on three...

Shipping through Hong Kong: More to it than meets the eye.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Richard Knee Add dinosaur eggs to the list of imports from Hong Kong that are under tight scrutiny by U.S. regulators. Obviously, they're not a big-volume item next to the mainstay products of apparel, toys and foodstuffs coming...

USDA forecasts record agriculture exports.
September 10, 2007... Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns on Aug. 31 predicted U.S. agricultural exports will reach a record $79 billion in fiscal 2007. And for fiscal 2008, the Department of Agriculture expects exports to total $83.5 billion with growth and new...

Terminal lease ties NYK to Tacoma for decades.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto When the Port of Tacoma lured NYK Line from Seattle in July, it was more than a major coup for a port with major capital expansion visions in play. The long-term lease that Tacoma officials negotiated with the...

Safmarine Makutu joins Safmarine fleet.
September 10, 2007... The Safmarine Makutu -- the fourth in a series of Panamax container ships to be delivered to Safmarine by Hyundai Heavy Industries -- was named late last month at the HHI Shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. Natalie Scholtz, wife of Duard...

Port of Tacoma hires Harris as senior accountant.
September 10, 2007... Paulette Harris has joined the Port of Tacoma's finance department as senior accountant.   Paulette Harris Before joining the port, Harris was senior accountant for Vulcan Inc. (Seattle), responsible for financial statements...

Amos joins Global Cold Chain.
September 10, 2007... The Global Cold Chain Alliance has hired Felicity Amos as director of international programs. She joined the alliance in July. Amos has extensive experience in overseas development work in Latin America and North Africa and holds degrees in...

Weber to retire from Fraser River post.
September 10, 2007... Pat Weber, vice president of operations and harbor master at the Fraser River Port Authority, will retire at the end of November. Weber joined the operations department of the port in 1989 after leaving Rivtow Straits Ltd., a towboat...

Got gateway?
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto More as a conversation opener than anything else, I thought it might get a laugh. I asked Edward Farren, a director of the Saint John Port Authority, which came first in Canada, the corridor or the gateway? ...

Canada stepping up trade talks with Asia.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Canada, with a comprehensive transportation and infrastructure gateway strategy in place, now must take itself to a new competitive level through trade agreements and foreign investment protection pacts with Asian...

Port of Vancouver, Wash., buys land, OKs rail project.
September 17, 2007... The Vancouver (Wash.) Port Commission approved a rail expansion project for one of its maritime tenants, and gave the green light to acquisition of property from Bonneville Power Administration at its meeting on Sept. 11. The port...

US administration effort targets free-trade pacts.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Alan Field Despite the recent expiration of presidential fast-track authority, key members of President Bush's Cabinet joined Sen. Chuck Grassley last week at a trade rally on Capitol Hill to launch the administration's effort to...

US shifting inspection burden to product importers.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo A change in U.S. policy will require importers to learn more about how their goods are manufactured or processed overseas as the government strives to protect consumers from potentially dangerous products. Mike...

Drivers in line for a raise.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall and Bill Mongelluzzo Pollution-mitigation plans have been thrown into a bit of disarray lately. Twice within recent months, federal courts have ruled that some California state actions unlawfully pre-empted federal...

NYK Line declares success on cold-ironing connection.
September 17, 2007... NYK Line announced it has successfully tested a new onboard power unit that will allow its vessels to plug in to shore-side electricity without making any expensive modifications to the vessels.   NYK Line will put the units on...

Port Tracker forecasts congestion-free October.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo North American ports are gearing up for the busiest month of the year in October, and they are expected to handle record container volumes without experiencing serious congestion problems. The Port Tracker,...

Ports gave economy $2 trillion push in 2006.
September 17, 2007... Deep-water seaports and the businesses related to them generated approximately 8.4 million American jobs in 2006 and added nearly $2 trillion to the economy, according to a just-completed study by Martin Associates, a Lancaster, Pa.-based...

Carriers seek action to curb labor protests at Cochin.
September 17, 2007... Labor unrest at India's southern port of Cochin following introduction of 24-hour work rules has prompted container lines to seek intervention with port management as well as the ministries of shipping and commerce. Carriers in the local...

Shipping lines upset over India port draft limits.
September 17, 2007... Ocean carriers calling at India's eastern ports of  Kolkata and Haldia have protested to the ministries of shipping and commerce about recent draft restrictions at the gateway hubs. Carriers, under the aegis of the local Container...

Proposed Indian shipyard attracts domestic and foreign interest.
September 17, 2007... Nine domestic and foreign companies have expressed interest in bidding for the proposed international shipyard to be set up on the east coast of India, said T.R. Baalu, the country's minister for shipping and transport. Baalu said the...

Port of Jawaharlal Nehru sets container record.
September 17, 2007... India's busiest Port of Jawaharlal Nehru handled a record 1.61 million 20-foot containers in the April-to-August period, up 26 percent from 1.28 million TEUs in the same period a year ago. The state-run terminal handled 513,013 TEUs, while...

Arshhiya to develop Nehru logistics park.
September 17, 2007... Arshhiya Technologies International Ltd., India' leading integrated supply-chain management company, says it will invest about $87 million to develop a container freight station and logistics park at the western Port of Jawaharlal Nehru. ...

Canada, New Zealand open up air-cargo services.
September 17, 2007... Canada and New Zealand have announced an aviation agreement designed to open up cargo and passenger services. The Canadian government said the open-skies agreement, superseding a 1985 accord, allows any number of all-cargo or passenger...

Panama Canal Authority seeks bids on dredging.
September 17, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority last week released its request for proposals for dredging of the waterway's Pacific entrance. This project will deepen and widen the canal's Pacific entrance channel to ensure that longer, wider ships can reach...

APM Terminals opens facility at Songyu port.
September 17, 2007... APM Terminals, the port-operating unit of A.P. Moller-Maersk, has officially opened a container terminal at the deep-water Songyu port in the city of Xiamen, southeast China. The Xiamen Songyu Phase 1 Terminal, a joint venture between APM...

Port of Yokohama sets six-month container record.
September 17, 2007... Buoyed by brisk trade with North America, the Port of Yokohama, Japan, handled 1.73 million TEUs in the first six months of this year, up 12.9 percent from a year ago and the highest six-month volume on record, the Yokohama municipal government...

Some shippers applaud efficiency of Mexican trucking program.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter With a U.S. Court of Appeals decision setting the stage to open the border to Mexican trucks, opposition to the Department of Transportation's controversial cross-border trucking program is reaching a fever pitch. But...

Canada to accept Mexican trucks; US lawmakers continue fight.
September 17, 2007... Canada will accept any Mexican trucks that enter the country from the U.S. under Department of Transportation registration, a Canadian transport official said. In the U.S., a group of lawmakers vowed to continue the fight to keep the trucks...

August rail traffic decreases.
September 17, 2007... Major U.S. railroads saw general freight carloadings decline 1 percent in August from a year ago, while rail hauls of intermodal containers and trailers dropped 4.2 percent, according to the Association of American Railroads. As carload...

Imports hurt Gulf Coast shrimpers.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field Two years after Hurricane Katrina, shrimpers along the Gulf Coast continue to suffer -- not only from the aftermath of the storm but from falling prices that producers blame on below-cost dumping of pond-raised shrimp...

Bush presses Japan to relax beef import curbs.
September 17, 2007... President Bush has urged Japan to abolish its age-related limit on imports of U.S. beef, the source of a lingering trade dispute between the world's two largest economies. Bush made the request during talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe...

Eimskip sells aircraft charter company.
September 17, 2007... Eimskip, the Icelandic shipping and logistics group, sold its remaining 49 percent stake in Avion Aircraft Trading, a cargo and passenger aircraft charter company, to focus on its core refrigerated freight and ocean container operations. ...

Vancouver port executive urges expedited project approvals.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Alan Daniels The process for approving major port infrastructure projects must speed up or Canada will be left behind in the competition for world trade, warns the Vancouver Port Authority's president and chief executive. "We...

Port Hueneme celebrates 20-year partnership with BMW.
September 17, 2007...   Photo: Port of Hueneme Earlier this month, officials from the Oxnard Harbor District and cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme invited representatives from the BMW group and community members for a tour of the port and a celebration...

Maersk ship refloated.
September 17, 2007... Titan Salvage said it successfully completed the refloating of the Maersk Diadema last week at Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico. The 975-foot laden container ship operated by Maersk Line ran aground outside the entrance channel on its approach to...

Southern California ports win AAPA environmental award.
September 17, 2007... The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have earned the highest environmental recognition from the American Association of Port Authorities. The ports will receive the Comprehensive Environmental Management Award for the San Pedro Bay Ports...

Hawaii rate case rejected.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Carriers and their customers may strive for long-term relationships, but usually not in a court or hearing room.  A federal appeals court weighed into a nine-year battle between an ocean freight...

Exports lead West Coast box growth.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo West Coast ports in July handled nearly 5 percent more containers than they did in the same month a year ago, but the increased action was mostly on the export side of the ledger. According to statistics posted...

Crowley honors Dowd and Dominguez.
September 17, 2007... Jerry Dowd, vice president of labor relations in Seattle, and Charlie Dominguez, vice president of sales and marketing, Latin America, for Crowley Maritime Corp.'s liner services group in Jacksonville, were awarded 2006 Thomas Crowley trophies...

Hankla, Freeman recognized for air quality leadership.
September 17, 2007... James C. Hankla, Long Beach harbor commissioner, and S. David Freeman, Los Angeles Harbor Commission president, were named recipients of the 2007 Charles R. Imbrecht Blue Sky Innovation Award by CALSTART, North America's leading clean...

Evergreen's Chang receives honorary doctorate in Russia.
September 17, 2007... Chang Yung-fa, group chairman of the Evergreen Group, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Transport and the title of Honorary Academician by the Russian Academy of Transport. The Russian Academy of Transport confers honorary...