Florida Shipper articles from February 2009

Florida Shipper archives from February 2009

Will work for pay.
February 2, 2009... Two days after President Obama warned the world that things are going to get worse, things got a lot worse at the Eyerdam home. A gracious team from Florida Shipper's parent company informed me of the contents of a press release that would be...

Crane flying higher.(Company overview)
February 2, 2009... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO  With lessons from EGL, and no debt in hand, new forwarder starts with aim of global freight reach Crane Worldwide Logistics seems to have emerged suddenly as a fully functioning international freight...

Georgia's winning strategy.
February 2, 2009... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER AND JOHN POWERS Distribution centers and rail service have been keys to success, but Savannah, Ga., is now feeling the pain. For a while, it seemed as though the Port of Savannah was immune to the global slowdown....

Horizon Logistics offers new service.
February 2, 2009... Horizon Logistics LLC has launched an international ocean shipping service to offer supply-chain solutions to U.S. importers and exporters. Horizon Logistics has been licensed by the Federal Maritime Commission to operate as a...

CSAV revises US-ECSA calls.
February 2, 2009... Ocean carrier CSAV has revised its service between the east coasts of the United States and South America to include direct calls at Port Everglades and at Port of Spain, Trinidad. The new rotation on the Usatlan Sling 1 will be New...

Public asks officials to reconsider Cayman port.
February 2, 2009... The local residents have asked government officials in the Cayman Islands to reconsider a proposed site for the new cargo and cruise ports in downtown George Town. Cayman Net News has reported that audience members at a public hearing asked why...

'New Panamax' defined.
February 2, 2009... The Panama Canal Authority has issued precise details on dimensions for the next era of Panamax ships. Proposals for the new locks will be received by March 3 and the canal authority is expected to announce which consortium will be awarded...

Minor snags as security enforcement begins.
February 2, 2009... BYLINE: R.G. EDMONSON The 5th Street Terminal usually wouldn't get such publicity, but it was one of three Miami facilities that the Coast Guard announced it had closed on Jan. 13 after a spot check showed employees didn't have...

DOJ: Brazil, Chile, Israel airlines fixed cargo prices.
February 2, 2009... Chile's LAN Cargo S.A., Aerolinhas Brasileiras and El Al Israel  Airlines agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fix airfreight prices, the U.S. Justice Department said on Jan. 22. The companies will pay criminal fines totaling...

Napolitano refocuses security efforts.
February 2, 2009... BYLINE: ARI NATTER DHS will emphasize surface transportation modes, security at U.S. borders The woman who will be the first Democrat to head the Department of Homeland Security has surface transportation and supply chains in her...

Port Everglades department gets terminal ok.
February 2, 2009... The Broward County Commission has approved a construction contract worth $12.3 million to expand the container terminal located in the Southport area of its Port Everglades department. The winning bidder for the 41-acre terminal is Tran...

Miami commissioners take on Panama City.
February 2, 2009... Worried that the Florida panhandle Port of Panama City could swipe container ships from the Port of Miami, Miami-Dade commissioners last month passed a resolution urging the Florida Legislature "to make infrastructure investments in the Port of...

Maersk: No recovery until 2011.
February 2, 2009... The chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk said the liner shipping industry is unlikely to recover before the end of next year and that it had no plans to try and buy smaller rivals. "Right now, we are not looking at acquisitions," Nils Andersen...

Decline in driving at 112 billion miles.
February 2, 2009... The U.S. trend of declining driving started its second year with a loss of 12.9 billion vehicle-miles traveled (VMT), or 5.3 percent less, in November 2008 compared to the same month a year earlier. It is the largest such decline of any...

Virginia Port Authority reorganizes.
February 2, 2009... The Virginia Port Authority announced a major reorganization with the appointment of four new deputy executive directors and the transfer of the authority's marketing staff to Virginia International Terminals, its private operating company. ...

Pacer appoints Commiskey as VP.
February 2, 2009... Pacer International Inc. announced the appointment of James K. Commiskey as vice president of automotive business development for its Pacer Stacktrain unit. Commiskey is responsible for sales and coordinating the marketing effort for Pacer's...

Emirates Line announces new chief executive.
February 2, 2009... Emirates Shipping Line announced that Romi Kaushal will replace Vikas M. Khan as chief executive. Kaushal has served 30 years in shipping and has held several senior positions in commercial, operations, administration and finance throughout the...

Hyundai names North America chief.
February 2, 2009... Hyundai Merchant Marine announced that on Jan. 1, Y.I. Song took office as the new chairman and chief executive of its North American operations. Song succeeds Y.K. Kim, who returned to the company's headquarters in Seoul as head of global...

Chiarello COO of NYK Logistics.
February 2, 2009... Anthony Chiarello was appointed executive vice president and chief operating officer of NYK Logistics (Americas), effective Jan. 12. Chiarello also serves on the boards of NYK Logistics (Americas) and its parent, NYK Group (Americas). He...

In other moves.
February 2, 2009... Kenny Rogers has left as president of the SEACOR Holding subsidiaries Seabulk Tankers Inc. and Seabulk Towing Inc. Hapag-Lloyd AG appointed Maarten Henderson as chief financial officer. He most recently served as non-executive chairman of PV...

A ditch in time.
February 9, 2009... Mediterranean Shipping Co. has decided to teach the Suez Canal (and, indirectly, the Panama Canal) a lesson about the relative value of location. MSC is joining with Maersk to re-route ships heading from Europe to Asia around the Cape of...

Maersk Line, CMA CGM join on USEC-Med service.
February 9, 2009... Maersk Line and CMA CGM announced they are joining forces on the U.S. East-Coast-Mediterranean trades in a two-year vessel-sharing agreement effective in mid-March. The new WestMed service will replace the Danish and French carriers'...

Hanjin adds two 4,300-TEU ships.
February 9, 2009... Hanjin Shipping has taken delivery of two 4,300-TEU ships, the sixth and seventh in a series of eight such vessels ordered from Samsung Heavy Industries in 2005. The two new ships, the Hanjin Atlanta and Hanjin Gdynia, are scheduled to be...

Grand Alliance lines suspend Asia-Europe loop.
February 9, 2009... In the face of reduced consumer demand, the five member lines in the Grand Alliance are suspending their EU5 Service between Europe and Asia, effective immediately. The service is supposed to resume in June. The alliance, which consists of...

Caricom meetings moved, rescheduled.
February 9, 2009... Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community Edwin Carrington announced on Jan. 28 that two major Caricom meetings have been delayed but rescheduled. One planned meeting was to discuss progress and the way forward in the Caricom Single...

Cruise stocks plummet after dismal analysis.
February 9, 2009... Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Carnival Corp. declined on Jan. 29 after an analyst recommended that investors sell the cruise operators' shares and issued a highly downbeat outlook for the sector. As reported in the business...

IDB to fund energy in the Caribbean.
February 9, 2009... Barbados, Bahamas and eventually other Caribbean countries will explore cutting-edge alternatives to lower their dependency on fossil fuels and improve their energy security with four grants approved by the Inter-American Development Bank. ...

UPS survey finds optimism.
February 9, 2009... In the first UPS Business Monitor of the United States, conducted in September and October 2008, 91 percent of small-business owners or managers said they expect their company to be in the same or better financial shape in a year than it is...

UPS restructuring leadership.
February 9, 2009... UPS has begun restructuring its upper management with the announcements that Ken Torok, 55, is rejoining UPS as president of the company's global freight-forwarding operations and Brad Mitchell has been selected president of UPS Global...

Bernuth's Captain Jordan: 'We are taking off'.
February 9, 2009... BYLINE: RICK EYERDAM Capt. Jordan Monocandilos, owner of Miami's Bernuth Lines, is a master at identifying opportunities and seizing them to the advantage of his prosperous steamship line. Today Capt. Jordan controls more cargo...

Capt. Jordan, a pillar of the community.
February 9, 2009... Capt. Jordan Monocandilos was born in Greece and received his education at the Merchant Marine Academy in Hydra, Greece. After graduating, he sailed worldwide, advancing from apprentice deck officer to chief officer and master (unlimited...

That sinking feeling.
February 9, 2009... As demand for freight transportation continues to soften, every sector of the transportation industry is experiencing that old sinking feeling. The Institute for Supply Management reports that U.S. manufacturing activity dropped to a 28-year...

10+2 rule takes effect.
February 9, 2009... The importer security filing, or 10+2, interim final rule took effect last month as planned, Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed. The rule was one that could have been affected by a White House order last month that held the...

Customs chief Basham staying on through transition.
February 9, 2009... Customs Commissioner W. Ralph Basham has agreed to stay on until the Obama administration names a successor, Customs and Border Protection confirmed late last month. Spokesman Mike Friel said that Basham will stay to assure continuity in the...

Port of Charleston to lose another Maersk Line loop.
February 9, 2009... The Port of Charleston, S.C., will lose another weekly vessel call in March as a result of a new vessel-sharing agreement between Maersk Line and CMA CGM that will combine two loops from the Mediterranean to the U.S. East Coast. Maersk...

European shadow dims Canada-Caribbean trade talks.
February 9, 2009... BYLINE: SIR RONALD SANDERS The fallout from the controversial Economic Partnership Agreement signed between the European Union and individual Caribbean countries has begun to show itself. Two events highlight the legacy of the EPA. The...

LaHood takes the wheel.
February 9, 2009... BYLINE: ARI NATTER Republican becomes 16th transportation secretary as administration acts on CAFE, sets new direction Ray LaHood's confirmation hearing for the post of transportation secretary was going along swimmingly, at least...

Global air cargo off 23 percent.
February 9, 2009... BYLINE: BRUCE BARNARD Global air cargo traffic plunged "an unprecedented and shocking" 22.6 percent in December from a year ago, the International Air Transport Association reported last month. "There is no clearer description of the...

The era of the worker.
February 16, 2009... The impending economic stimulus package comes with several large lollipops for American manufacturers and U.S. unions. The House passed a "Buy America" provision to cover iron and steel, and the Senate is expected to require a "Buy American"...

Gulf ports brace for a rough 2009.
February 16, 2009... Whether they had a foul 2008 or a fair - and some Gulf ports had a surprisingly healthy year, considering the turbulent economy - nearly all are hunkering down for the rough weather they expect in 2009. Steel imports increased 33 percent at...

Standing tall.
February 16, 2009... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH  Intermediaries see opportunity in recession Like container carriers, ocean freight intermediaries are seeing their cargo volume drop. But unlike the carriers, their bottom lines are not dragged into the red...

Hopes are high in Central America.
February 16, 2009... BYLINE: LETICIA LOZANO Recession-driven reality may come as a shock Like millions of people worldwide, Central Americans are hopeful that the administration of President Obama will bring about a new era in politics, trade,...

CAFTA benefits fall short.
February 16, 2009... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Apparel exports to U.S. fail to meet expectations When Congress ratified the Central America Free Trade Agreement in 2005, U.S. textile and apparel industry executives hoped it would usher in a new era in which...

Central American ports consider expansion projects.
February 16, 2009... BYLINE: RICHARD KNEE Work to expand and upgrade ports in Central America is coming in fits and starts as port authorities and national governments grapple with governance and social issues. "All of the Central American ports have some...

APHIS extends phase-in for Lacey Act enforcement.
February 16, 2009... The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has extended the phased-in enforcement schedule for imported items subject to the revised Lacey Act. The agency noted, however, that the April 1 enforcement date for importer declarations has...

CPSC delays lab portions of import safety rules.
February 16, 2009... The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced it will delay for one year certain laboratory testing requirements in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.The commission's decision provides some regulatory relief for manufacturers of...

NAM urges Obama to fight protectionism.
February 16, 2009... The Obama administration must make every effort to ensure that the government works for a global standstill on protectionist measures by Congress and by the major U.S. trading partners or the result will be "economic disaster." In his...

Maersk factors Miami out of its apparel loop.
February 16, 2009... Maersk Line will be dealing a blow to the Port of Miami and the South Florida trucking industry beginning on March 6, when it reroutes its apparel and textile services from Puerto Cortes, Honduras, and Santo Tomas, Guatemala, to bypass the Port...

APM depart Kingston.
February 16, 2009... APM Terminals has done an award-winning job running the Kingston Container Terminal for the government of Jamaica. But those days are coming to an end. The decision is in cooperation with the tenants of the Kingston Container Terminal who are...

Builders vie for Costa Rica ports.
February 16, 2009... Representatives from the Netherlands, Chile, China, Singapore and the United States are among the companies that attended a session last month to discuss participation in two port projects on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast. The Public Works...

Tropical Shipping inks strategic deal.
February 16, 2009... In a deal that moves them near the front of the line, Tropical Shipping has been designated as a strategic partner of The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association and the official shipping line of the association. Tropical Shipping, Eventstar...

Zim seeks to cancel new container ships.
February 16, 2009... BYLINE: BRUCE BARNARD Zim Integrated Shipping Services, the Israeli ocean carrier that is a mainstay at the Port of Tampa, is seeking to cancel part of its $1.4 billion container ship order and reschedule delivery of other vessels amid...