Florida Shipper articles from August 2007

Florida Shipper archives from August 2007

Labor flap.
August 6, 2007... You heard the one about the butterfly that flaps over there and changes history here? In this case, the butterfly wings are worn by very highly compensated union clerks in California. Back in 2002 they were locked out by employers because they...

California nightmare.
August 6, 2007... BYLINE: Paul T. Rosynsky Mexican officials pursue port expansion With labor discord raising its troublesome head again, there's no question among West Coast maritime executives about the future of a mega-container port in Mexico. From...

Poverty causes Mexico's Calderon to invest in infrastructure.
August 6, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field For several years, there have been predictions that ports on Mexico's Pacific Coast could provide an alternative to Los Angeles and Long Beach for container shipments to U.S. points. And those options became more...

South America: Land of wonders.(Company overview)
August 6, 2007... When the votes were counted on the latest Internet event, the seven wonders of the world were rewritten to include the massive, modernistic statue of a very Anglo-looking Jesus spreading benevolent arms over Brazil's sin city, Rio de Janeiro....

GAO: DOT should do more for intermodal.
August 6, 2007... The Department of Transportation is not doing enough to advance Congress' goal of a national intermodal transportation system, according to a Government Accountability Office study. The GAO found three barriers to progress in developing the...

Jaxport selects contractor for TraPac Phase 2.
August 6, 2007... The Tower Group Inc. has signed an agreement with the Jacksonville Port Authority to begin work on the second phase of the new TraPac Container Terminal project at Dames Point. Phase 2 construction is expected to begin in October. The...

Federal court tosses truckers hours-of-service rules.
August 6, 2007... A federal court in July threw out the latest truck driver hours-of-service regulations, ruling that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration violated procedural law when it crafted the rules. The ruling overturns the 11-hour daily...

Water bill moves forward.
August 6, 2007... Conferees from the House and Senate quickly resolved differences in their versions of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495), making it possible for the bill to pass before the congressional August recess. A number of...

ECLAC positive on Caribbean growth.
August 6, 2007... The outlook for the growth of Latin America and the Caribbean region is 5 percent for 2007 and 4.6 percent in 2008, following the 2006 growth rate of 5.6 percent, according to the latest economic survey of Latin America and the Caribbean...

LIAT secures $60 million loan.
August 6, 2007... Caribbean regional airline LIAT has been handed what local papers call "a financial lifeline" in the form of a $60 million loan package from the Caribbean Development Bank. "For the first time in many, many years, LIAT is looking in good...

Fewer storms predicted for Caribbean.
August 6, 2007... WSI Corp, a private weather forecasting service, has reduced its prediction of Atlantic hurricanes from 15 to 14 named storms, with six expected to turn into hurricanes and three of those predicted to be major storms. WSI's original projection...

Dengue threatens Costa Rica carnival.
August 6, 2007... The Public Health Ministry in Costa Rica announced it will cancel the annual October Carnival in the Caribbean port of Limon if a recent spate of dengue fever is not reduced in the next two weeks. According to a statement from the ministry,...

Experienced logistics cures growing pains.
August 6, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto A recent Georgia Tech study showed that 72 percent of companies surveyed in Latin America and the Caribbean used third-party logistics providers, and that 77 percent rated their relationship with 3PLs as very...

Crist to lead Florida-Brazil trade mission.
August 6, 2007... Enterprise Florida and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will head a Team Florida Trade Mission to Sao Paulo, Brazil, Nov. 3-8. According to the Florida Foreign Trade Association, the mission is designed "to promote Florida-Brazil trade and...

Food imports draw federal attention.
August 6, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall Discovery of e-coli bacteria caused a recent widespread beef recall in the U.S., but food safety concerns remained centered on imports as President Bush, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug...

Strike averted in California.
August 6, 2007... BYLINE: Stephanie Nall A strike at the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach was averted on July 26 when office clerical workers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union reached agreement with 14 shipping lines on a new...

ILA rejects direct elections, elects Hughes.
August 6, 2007... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney The International Longshoremen's Association has voted to scale back the practice of officers collecting salaries for multiple union jobs, but soundly rejected an effort by union dissidents to require rank-and-file...

Miami tunnel project moves ahead.
August 6, 2007... Miami-Dade commissioners recently agreed to spend more than $400 million as their share of a $1 billion toll tunnel to link the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami to a causeway connecting South Beach to downtown Miami. The four-year project,...

Maruba Lines expands Latin America services.
August 6, 2007... Maruba Lines, a privately held niche carrier, has recently expanded its services to and from the U.S. East Coast and Latin America in collaboration with CMA CGM. Maruba recently opened an Americas regional office in Miami where operational...

CMA CGM adds Vasco Express peak surcharge.
August 6, 2007... French liner operator CMA CGM announced plans to implement a peak-season surcharge of $200 per TEU and $400 per FEU on cargo shipped from India to South America on its recently launched Vasco Express service, effective Aug. 1. In a notice...

LAN Airlines income soars.(Financial report)
August 6, 2007... LAN Airlines SA announced its consolidated financial results for the second quarter that ended on June 30. LAN had net income of $42.6 million, nearly a 159 percent increase from $16.5 million a year earlier. The carrier reported operating...

Brazil aviation chief replaced.
August 6, 2007... President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired Brazil's top aviation official at the end of July, hoping to end nearly a year of air travel chaos that has become a national crisis since the recent crash of a jetliner that killed 199 people,...

Logistics lessons.
August 13, 2007... My friend Bill Armbruster over at our sister publication Shipping Digest recently expressed a desire to add a crime section to his magazine. He listed a recent joint effort by the FBI and Chinese authorities that led to the arrest of 25 people...

Compliance? What compliance?
August 13, 2007... BYLINE: Susan Kohn Ross A customs conundrum It is impossible to read the trade press, and sometimes even the general press, without thinking, where is that company's compliance program? In no particular order of significance, but...

Palm Beach expands, enhances security.
August 13, 2007... BYLINE: Lori A. Baer, Executive Director, Port of Palm Beach The Port of Palm Beach is continuing to build upon its position as a vital hub for Caribbean commerce by advancing such projects as an inland port facility and the new South Gate...

Congress: Toxic trains must avoid cities.
August 13, 2007... Congress has passed homeland security legislation (H.R. 1) that requires trains carrying hazardous materials to avoid cities. The legislation implements recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. It requires railroads to route hazardous cargo...

USTR amends NAFTA-origin rules.
August 13, 2007... The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice announcing that July 30 was the effective date for modifications to the North American Free Trade Agreement rules of origin for many textiles from Mexico. The changes were...

Vietnam aims to reduce fraud.
August 13, 2007... The Association of Garment, Textile and Embroidery-Knitting of Vietnam has voiced support for the Vietnam Trade Ministry's decision to ban and prevent the transshipment of textile and apparel, semi-tailored products and accessories to the U.S....

Candidates murdered in Guatemala.
August 13, 2007... Guatemala remains the major transshipment source of cocaine in our part of the world. "So far, in the campaigning leading up to elections on Sept. 9, the authorities have reported 61 violent attacks on candidates and political activists....

Guatemala receives $100 million from World Bank.
August 13, 2007... The World Bank's board of directors has approved a $100 million quick-disbursing budgetary support loan described as an effort to recognize Guatemala's efforts to promote higher, more inclusive growth through improvements in the business...

Gildan profit climbs.(Financial report)
August 13, 2007... Gildan Activewear Inc., North America's biggest T-shirt maker and a major client of Seaboard Marine, announced its third-quarter profit increased 22 percent, the first gain in a year, on increased sales and ramped-up production at lower-cost...

Tropical Shipping opens bonded warehouse in Trinidad.
August 13, 2007... Tropical Shipping recently held its grand opening ceremony for a new bonded warehouse at Trincity, Trinidad. According to local reports, the celebration was attended by Tropical Shipping managers of the Caribbean as well as senior managers...

Astar yanks ABX Air offer.
August 13, 2007... Astar Air Cargo Holdings officially halted its advances toward ABX Air on July 27 after the airfreight company said $7.75 a share was not enough. The Miami-based privately held airfreight carrier said at the time it felt that its offer...

Maersk Line switches to feeders.
August 13, 2007... Maersk Line announced it will no longer serve Manzanillo, Panama, and Kingston, Jamaica, via a direct call on its AC1 Latin America-to-Far East service. Beginning Oct. 1, the ports will be served by feeders transshipped through Balboa, Panama....

Record peak not expected to jam US ports.
August 13, 2007... North American ports are gearing up to handle record container volumes this month and again in October, but they should make it through the peak shipping season without experiencing any congestion problems, according to the latest Port Tracker...

Miami rejects tunnel share.
August 13, 2007... Tomas Regalado, commissioner of the city of Miami, led a 3-2 vote defeating a bid for the city to use community redevelopment funds to help build a $1 billion tunnel to the Port of Miami, threatening the future of the project. Pete...

Dolan to lead Tampa's board of commissioners.
August 13, 2007... Florida Gov. Charles Crist has appointed Brian Dolan, assistant vice president for Bank of America, chairman of the Tampa Port Authority's board of commissioners. He succeeds Steven Pinney, who resigned in mid-April because his employer,...

Port Everglades to add more cruise ships.
August 13, 2007... Port Everglades has announced that Costa Cruises' Costa Fortuna, Cunard Line's Queen Victoria, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' Bremen, Princess Cruises Emerald Princess and Royal Princess and Royal Caribbean International's Navigator of the Seas will be...

House passes WRDA bill.
August 13, 2007... Despite a presidential veto threat, the House approved the conference report for the $21 billion Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (H.R. 1495) in a 381-40 vote. WRDA is the vehicle by which Congress authorizes new projects for the...

Unlicensed tug operator caught.
August 13, 2007... The Coast Guard in Miami has begun an investigation after relieving an unlicensed tug operator of his duties and removing his undocumented vessel from service. The Coast Guard responded to an incident on July 27, which began as a report of...

Judge asked to throw out ILA racketeering suit.
August 13, 2007... A U.S. District judge has been asked to dismiss a civil racketeering lawsuit that seeks to oust top officials of the International Longshoremen's Association and put the union and several benefit programs under federal control. Judge I. Leo...

Guatemala gets grant to modernize customs.
August 17, 2007... The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a $387,500 grant under its DR-CAFTA Trade Integration Initiative to help Guatemala modernize its Customs Transit Control System. According to a USTDA press release, the grant is the first to...

Canny Nebraskan.
August 20, 2007... In the Dec. 5, 1977, issue of Time Magazine, there was an article titled "Piracy or profit on the high seas." Time worried, "Few global economic issues have generated so much vitriol as the Soviet Union's drive to win more of the...

Special Report: Transportation Leaders in Florida 2006-2007.
August 20, 2007... Florida Shipper recognizes four for excellence in leadership In a complex trade and logistics market such as Florida, leadership is often the difference between success and failure. Where change can be rapid and sometimes daunting,...

EU: World's biggest market.
August 20, 2007... BYLINE: Jonathan Bensky European Union offers great opportunities for U.S. companies, but there are also plenty of challenges The European Union is the largest economy in the world. It has a gross domestic product of about 13 trillion...

FMC sets electronic filing for OTI licenses.
August 20, 2007... Ocean Transportation Intermediaries next month will have the opportunity to file license applications electronically, according to the Federal Maritime Commission. The commission will provide an electronic filing system for Form FMC-18...

Agency says US missing sales opportunities in Cuba.
August 20, 2007... The U.S. could provide more than half of Cuba's agricultural, fish, and forest product imports if U.S. trade and travel restrictions to Cuba were lifted, the U.S. International Trade Commission says. The U.S. share of such Cuban imports...

Shippers oppose scan-all requirement.
August 20, 2007... The Global Shippers Forum has warned that a U.S. law requiring all containers to be scanned at foreign ports will slow commerce and raise costs that will ultimately have to be paid by consumers. One hundred-percent scanning "will result in...

NAFTA blamed for bridge collapse.
August 20, 2007... The blog called World Net Daily (WND) found a study recently that suggests that the Federal Highway Administration was concerned as early as 1998 that increased truck trade along the Interstate 35 corridor could lead to road and bridge wear....

Colombia signs free-trade deal with CAFTA states.
August 20, 2007... Colombia has entered a free-trade agreement with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador that could double exports to the Central American countries in five years, according to the Associated Press. The accord, signed earlier this month, "makes...

Bahamas seeks shipping growth.
August 20, 2007... Bahamas Maritime Minister Dion Foulkes told local reporters that the Bahamas has not tapped the full potential of its shipping industry. Foulkes said his ministry is hoping to capitalize on the transshipment cargo industry through the...

Costa Rica, Panama strengthen bilateral ties.
August 20, 2007... Panama and Costa Rica have agreed to strengthen their political and commercial ties and to strive for more cooperation upon concluding a bilateral meeting with mixed commissions from both countries. The two-day meeting earlier this month...

Caricom-Central American trade initiative launched.
August 20, 2007... Trade ministers and technical officials from the Caribbean Community and Central America met in Trinidad recently for three-days of negotiations to extend the Caricom-Costa Rica Trade Agreement to include other Central American nations,...

Shortage of chemicals threatens US manufacturing.
August 20, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto A new report by AMR Research and the National Association of Manufacturers states that increasing costs for chemicals, coupled with a reduction in their domestic availability, could mean that 25 percent of U.S....

Bush nominates Anderson FMC chairman.
August 20, 2007... President Bush has nominated A. Paul Anderson to be chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. If confirmed, he would serve his second term on the five-member panel, through 2012. Anderson was appointed to the commission in April 2003. He...

Ahern takes over as Customs deputy commissioner.
August 20, 2007... Jayson P. Ahern assumed the duties of deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection on Aug. 6. Word of Ahern's promotion had spread three months ago, but he officially took the No. 2 position in the agency on the retirement of Deborah J....

Panama Canal reports decline in transit times.
August 20, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority said the average time it takes a vessel to pass through the waterway declined during its third fiscal quarter that ended on June 30, when there was also a small decrease in the number of transits, tonnage and use of...

Socks work.
August 27, 2007... How are socks like weapons of mass destruction? When last we spoke of socks, President Bush had promised to make good on the pledge to Republican lawmaker Robin Hayes, a North Carolina sock manufacturer, to protect his constituent sock makers,...

Summer time.
August 27, 2007... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam Cruising for cruise lines In a summer when container terminals are energized by the challenges of growing U.S. exports, several Florida ports are equally immersed in the annual intrigue over which big cruise ships...

Cruise control.
August 27, 2007... Passengers boarding a cruise ship have little idea of the enormous amount of coordinated efforts required to make the vessel "shipshape" before raising anchor. These efforts must be accomplished within a very small time window -- generally no...

Package limitation of liability under COGSA.
August 27, 2007... BYLINE: Daniel W. Raab, Esq. The $500-per-package limitation under the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act is an area of the law that has frequently been litigated. Disputes in these types of container cases -- which arise after the shipper's...

Trade gap narrows as exports hit record.
August 27, 2007... The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in June as a weaker dollar and overseas growth boosted exports to a record, the Commerce Department reported on Aug. 14. The June trade gap totaled $58.1 billion, down 1.7 percent from a revised May deficit...

Bridgeport terminal in trouble.
August 27, 2007... Resistance from Bridgeport, Conn.- area residents has caused Bridgeport politicians to back down on plans to ship containers on barges between Captain's Cove Seaport and New York, according to local reports. Port Canaveral was also...

Dominican Customs wants CSI at ports.
August 27, 2007... The Dominican Customs Agency (DGA) told local reporters that it is working to get U.S. authorities to certify its ports at East Haina and Puerto Plata as Container Security Initiative ports to have a total of three certified terminals in the...

Sea Star increasing US Virgin Island bunker charge.
August 27, 2007... Sea Star Line on Aug. 12 increased its bunker fuel charge for shipments to and from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Shipments between the U.S. Virgin Islands and the ports of Jacksonville, Everglades and San Juan, are assessed a fee of $415, up...

Costa Rica and Panama strengthen ties.
August 27, 2007... Panama and Costa Rica have agreed to strengthen their political and commercial ties and strive for more cooperation upon concluding a bilateral meeting with mixed commissions from both countries. The agreement was structured during a...

Ferry to offer inter-island link.
August 27, 2007... Port of Spain ship agents Global Steamship Agencies is preparing plans to put the 2,558-ton steel-hulled Canadian-built ferry Caribbean Rose into service in Trinidad, according to local reports. The Caribbean Rose has been refurbished in...

Trinidad seeks Costa Rica beef.
August 27, 2007... Officials in Trinidad and Tobago are reviewing a proposal to allow beef imports from Costa Rica, and a Costa Rican official visiting Port of Spain said approval would significantly lower beef prices for consumers in Trinidad and Tobago,...

Correction.(Correction notice)
August 27, 2007... The item in the Aug. 13 Florida Shipper headlined "Dolan to lead Tampa Port Authority's board of commissioners" was incorrectly reported. Brian Dolan, assistant vice president for Bank of America, was appointed to the Tampa Authority but not to...

Scan-all fallout: Lines might refuse US imports.
August 27, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter If opponents cannot turn back the tide on the U.S. policy of examining every cargo container destined for U.S. ports aboard ships and jets, it is possible the world's major ocean cargo carriers will refuse to carry...

Polar sale boosts Atlas net.
August 27, 2007... Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings quadrupled net income in the second quarter on the strength of a DHL investment in its Polar Air Cargo subsidiary. Revenue totaled $370.4 million, up 1.1 percent from the prior-year period. Operating income was...

Broken greenback.
August 27, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Dollar woes help little in Latin trades For more than a year, there have been predictions that the dollar's decline against most major foreign currencies would boost U.S. exports. Now the forecast is coming to...

APL's Suez service to compete with trans-Pacific trades.
August 27, 2007... The President Adams, the first container ship in APL Ltd.'s new weekly Suez Express (SZX) service from South Asia, called at the New York Container Terminal on Aug. 17, making a point about dependability at the expense of trans-Pacific...

Trailer Bridge launches new Jaxport-Dominican service.
August 27, 2007... Trailer Bridge Inc. opened a new container service between the Jacksonville Port Authority's Blount Island Marine Terminal and the Dominican Republic. The service commenced on Aug. 13, departing from Jacksonville for Puerto Plata, Dominican...

Sea Star alters structure.
August 27, 2007... In a move the company says is designed to improve its core business of serving Puerto Rico while proceeding with long-term strategic expansion plans, Sea Star Line LLC has undergone several organizational changes. John Emery has been...