Florida Shipper articles from June 2008

Florida Shipper archives from June 2008

Ports need flexibility in security funding.
June 2, 2008... The Port of Houston Authority did a big favor for all of the nation's ports last month when it took Rep. Peter King, the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, for a tour around the port's terminals and lobbied him...

Olympic challenges.
June 2, 2008... China's big event and earthquake aftermath could snarl supply chains Confident reassurances of the Chinese government notwithstanding, supply-chain consultants say shippers and carriers sourcing goods in China would be wise to make...

What's in a name? Respect.
June 2, 2008... Chinese names appear in a different order than Western names. Each person has, in this order, a family or generational name and a first name. In Chinese names, the family name comes first. For example, in the name "Chen Wu," Chen is the family...

Meetings.
June 2, 2008... Meetings are considered formal in China. A list of your representatives before the meeting including their rank in your company are required. You should also request a similar list. You will be led into a room in which the Chinese are already...

Non-tariff measures on import and export goods in China.
June 2, 2008... China's foreign trade regulations are frequently changing and difficult for shippers to track. In May, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council retained China Tax and Investment Consultants Ltd. to provide the latest information regarding...

New Chinese corporate tax law: Risks and opportunities.
June 2, 2008... With China's implementation of a new corporate tax law and administrative regulations on Jan. 1, 2008, Chinese tax authorities have been developing agency regulations and rules that will increase the scrutiny applied to transfer pricing between...

Anderson quits FMC.
June 2, 2008... Federal Maritime Commissioner A. Paul Anderson stepped down from the agency on May 30. Anderson was appointed a commissioner on the FMC in August 2003 by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate in May 2004. He was subsequently nominated...

Norwegian Cruise Line to pay blast victims $13 million.
June 2, 2008... A federal judge in Miami has ordered Norwegian Cruise Line to pay more than $13 million to the victims of a 2003 boiler explosion aboard one of its ships that killed eight workers and injured 10 others. Judge Federico Moreno also levied a...

Senate, House override Bush veto of farm legislation.
June 2, 2008... Congress acted quickly to override President Bush's veto of the $307 billion farm bill that contains provisions to liberalize country-of-origin rules of Haitian apparel manufacturers and to extend the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. ...

Security initiative to bolster Caribbean ports.
June 2, 2008... The Caribbean Shipping Association has announced a new initiative to assist ports of the Caribbean to beef up and maintain effective port security systems. The program will be available to all Caribbean ports but is designed to assist the...

Seaboard gets new lease at Miami.
June 2, 2008... The Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners has approved a 20-year lease extension with Seaboard Marine that guarantees improvements at the carrier's 80-acre Port of Miami terminal and settles long-standing disputes between the port and...

Help on the way for Caribbean hotels.
June 2, 2008... The Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) will form a Caribbean Tourism Investment Fund designed to help close the financing gap in the Caribbean that has traditionally resulted in limited access to third-party equity. The announcement was...

U.S. recession would have little impact, Jamaica says.
June 2, 2008... The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) projected that a recession in the U.S. running to September would lower gross domestic product growth in Jamaica by 0.4 percentage point during the fiscal year that ends next March. GDP growth is currently forecast at...

Shippers agree to bunker surcharges in contracts on imports from Asia.
June 2, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO Charlie Woo knows that his company will pay higher freight rates this year for its toy imports from Asia, but he's neither shocked nor disappointed. "These are reasonable proposals," he said. "They are not beyond...

LAN plans Colombian cargo airline.
June 2, 2008... Chile's LAN Airlines has submitted a formal proposal to Colombian authorities to create a new cargo airline in that country. In announcing its plans, LAN said Colombia is the largest air cargo market in Latin America in terms of exports to...

Surcharges.
June 9, 2008... In the great fishing destinations of the world -- Miami was once one of them -- you could catch a tasty fish and drop it off at great seafood eateries to have it cleaned and prepared Veronique or Madagascar. Those days are mostly gone, although...

Logistics behind the wall.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Lower-cost markets can't match China's infrastructure, logistics muscle China's neighbors can see their opportunity as clearly as astronauts can see the Great Wall from space. As the Middle Kingdom progresses...

DP World hopes to enter US terminals business.
June 9, 2008... DP World, the Dubai-based marine terminal operator at the center of a political firestorm two years ago because of its deal to acquire P&O Ports, still hopes to get into the terminal-operating business in the U.S., according to David Sanborn,...

US, transportation companies team up in relief efforts.
June 9, 2008... The U.S. Agency for International Administration is adding $25 million in emergency food aid to Haiti, bringing its total contribution to $45 million. The funds will go to the World Food Program, Catholic Relief Services and World Vision,...

CSX Intermodal to introduce "Threads Express".
June 9, 2008... CSX Intermodal has announced a new rail service connecting North Carolina with South Florida aimed at the garment trade. The service, called "Threads Express," will offer "superior, truck-like service with the cost efficiency and...

Trailer Bridge reports first-quarter loss.(Financial report)
June 9, 2008... Trailer Bridge Inc. reported mixed unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31. Southbound container volume increased 15.1 percent and total revenue increased, but those results were offset by the costs of the new service...

Caribbean nations plan eco-tourism parks.
June 9, 2008... Several Caribbean islands will create new protected areas for fish and coral reefs under a $70 million plan announced at the end of May. "This is a trust fund for the future benefit of society," Reuters quoted Earl Deveaux, the Bahamas'...

Is there green in green?
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: ARI NATTER Truckers, railroads are acting on the environment to stay ahead of new regulations, cut costs and get a competitive edge When it comes to an 80,000-pound diesel-powered truck, "green" probably isn't the first word...

New industry forms around green port technology.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The greening of the supply chain is creating a new industry in which port authorities, universities, carriers and private equity investors can all participate. While the primary goal of this industry is to reduce...

City of Miami challenged on river zoning.
June 9, 2008... The city of Miami's recent change in zoning laws to remove Port of Miami River protections in favor of waterfront condo development has met opposition from the staff of the South Florida Regional Planning Council. By removing the...

South African company seeks Jaxport opportunities.
June 9, 2008... A South African company that specializes in container-related sales and repairs will build a facility on the north side of Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce announced that Big Lift Trucks will open a...

Jaxport's deputy director on paid leave.
June 9, 2008... The deputy executive director of the Jacksonville Port Authority has been placed on administrative leave while the port reviews its procurement procedures in the midst of an ongoing Orlando-area FBI investigation. Ron Baker, who has been...

Steel scrap facility opens in Tampa.
June 9, 2008... OneSteel Recycling, formerly Smorgon Steel, has opened a new steel scrap-processing facility at the Port of Tampa. The new shredder cost $24 million and is expected to process 150,000 tons of scrap annually. The company is a subsidiary of...

EU to fight banana ruling.
June 9, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN FIELD The European Commission said it will appeal a World Trade Organization ruling that found EU banana import regulations broke international trade rules by favoring the group's former colonies. "Our view on the decision...

US finalizes export e-filing rules.
June 9, 2008... The long-awaited Census Bureau Foreign Trade Regulations were published in the Federal Register on June 1. The regulations require the electronic filing of export documents, and allow data to be filed after a shipment has left the U.S. The...

DHL restructures, shrinks US network.
June 9, 2008... Deutsche Post World Net unveiled a 10-year cooperation agreement with UPS as the centerpiece of a $2 billion restructuring of its money-losing DHL Express delivery operation in the U.S. The Germany-based mail and logistics conglomerate also...

UPS-DHL deal cuts out ABX and Astar.
June 9, 2008... The 10-year agreement between UPS and DHL in the United States will bring UPS some $1 billion in annual revenue over the life of the contract. But the savings come at the expense of ABX Air and its unsuccessful suitor, Miami's Astar Air Cargo...

Hubris.
June 23, 2008... The first direct service from Asia to the Port of Jacksonville, Fla., will arrive at Blount Island around July 7 depending on the traffic jam at the Panama Canal. I can imagine Ron Baker, Jaxport's former deputy executive director and...

Head east.
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO West Coast ports continue to lose market share to rivals in the East The news just gets worse for West Coast ports. While they continue to hold a dominant share of the crucial import trade from Northeast Asia,...

Washington moving import safety inspections overseas.
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH The procedures for certifying the safety and security of imports entering the U.S. will eventually be pushed overseas under an evolving system of international standards that Washington is trying to establish first...

C-TPAT to include exports?
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH The U.S. and the governments of some of its major trading partners are slowly working toward developing mutual recognition of their trade security procedures.To facilitate mutual recognition, Customs and Border...

Port of Miami may increase multi-user terminals.
June 23, 2008... Over the strong objections of the Port of Miami Terminal Operating Co., a subcommittee of the Miami port authority voted 4-0 to allow rival APM Terminals to provide stevedoring services for ocean cargo carriers other than Maersk ships. ...

Dominican deputies approve change in CAFTA trade pact.
June 23, 2008... The Chamber of Deputies of the Dominican Republic have ratified an amendment to the Free Trade Agreement between the Dominican Republic, Central America and the U.S., regarding the rules of origin for the inner cloth of the pockets, known as...

Panama Canal backlog eases as normal bookings resume.
June 23, 2008... The Panama Canal Authority announced that the backlog of vessels waiting to transit the waterway has eased to the point where it is able to return to 17 per day the number of booking slots for "supers," or ships with a beam of 91 feet. The...

Horizon Logistics, DAS open Puerto Rico car service.
June 23, 2008... Horizon Logistics this month announced it has started a new service for DAS Global Services shipping automobiles to Puerto Rico in containers. The international division of Dependable Auto Shippers, DAS operates a weekly service from Port...

Port of Miami River seeking short-sea funds.
June 23, 2008... The managers of the Port of the Miami River plan to make a pitch to secure funding through Congress as part of its Energy Bill, which provides dedicated funding for coastal shipping when it reduces truck traffic. The idea is to move containers...

Caribbean logistics.
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: KAYYONNE MARSTON AND ANTON EDMUNDS  CCAA evaluates the region's poor performance A recent publication by the World Bank, titled "Connecting to Compete: Trade Logistics in the Global Economy," provides a useful analysis of...

Continental divide.
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: DAVID BIEDERMAN Logistics operators adjust networks in response to growth of all-water services For a growing number of U.S. importers, the road to supply-chain peace of mind and the East Coast is going through the Panama and...

Weak economy puts the brakes on US logistics mergers.
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN When it comes to mergers and acquisitions in the transportation and logistics sector, this may be a good time not to be an American. "Overall, on a global basis, transaction activity remains very strong, by the...

Teqflor to fly perishables to Chicago MidAmerica airport.
June 23, 2008... Operators of the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport outside Chicago will spend about $3 million to attract an international floral business, according to local reports. The St. Clair County Board in Illinois agreed on June 11 to lease part of...

CMA CGM expands coverage of Asia-Panama-US East Coast service.
June 23, 2008... CMA CGM's existing SAX service linkng Asia, Panama and the U.S. East Coast has been redesigned to include calls at Balboa, Panama, eastbound and westbound as well as Jacksonville, Fla., eastbound. The SAX service is now deploying eight...

House questions foreign work on Jones Act ships.
June 23, 2008... Members of the House Transportation Committee may propose legislation that would force the Coast Guard to tighten its rules governing work by foreign shipyards on vessels operating in the Jones Act domestic trades. During a recent hearing,...

MOL will call at Jaxport early.
June 23, 2008... Japanese carrier MOL said its ESX service (East Coast-South China Express) will begin calling at Jacksonville, Fla.'s Blount Island Terminal on July 7, six months ahead of schedule. The all-water ESX service is jointly operated by the New...

What's not to like about Chile?
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: RICHARD KNEE Logistics and business environment draw high marks, though infrastructure reportedly needs work Amid continuing rising transportation costs, retailers say they are witnessing a gradual shift of manufacturing back...

This Bud's for you, Ho Chi Minh City.
June 23, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER Anheuser-Busch has heard the call. Starting this month, thirsty residents of Ho Chi Minh City and other cities in Vietnam can order a Budweiser at upscale bars and restaurants. The world-famous brew will also be...

Allegators (cq) unite.
June 30, 2008... The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of International Trade has decided to expand the practice of turning U.S. business people into its uncompensated deputies. This time, the office wants shippers to join the club of allegators and...

Growing Gulf.
June 30, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH Gulf ports are on a rebound New container terminals are sprouting up as U.S. Gulf ports build or expand facilities to handle growth and prepare for the expansion of the Panama Canal, which they hope will attract...

ILWU, port employers agree on health care benefits.
June 30, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Pacific Maritime Association announced recently that they have reached a tentative agreement on health care benefits as part of negotiations on a new West Coast...

Midwest flooding devastates freight operations.
June 30, 2008... Flood damage to Midwest freight operations continued to spread even as storms eased up in recent days. The Army Corps of Engineers has closed 14 upper Mississippi River locks to barging, covering 315 river-miles. Meanwhile, truckers find...

Customs develops new online reporting system for trade violations.
June 30, 2008... Expanding the practice of turning U.S. business people into deputies, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of International Trade has developed a new online trade violation reporting system called eAllegations to provide "concerned...

Caribbean association urges port managers to focus on efficiency.
June 30, 2008... Caribbean port managers must become more efficient in their operation or they will lower the region's chance to become more competitive in the global economy. That was the word from Agatha Dublin, general manager of the Antigua and Barbuda...

Puerto Rico adopts new incentives.
June 30, 2008... Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo-Vila attended the BIO 2008 conference in San Diego, Calif., on June 17 to offer what his administration called a sweeping new package of incentives for investment by companies in life sciences and other...

Export award recipient fined.
June 30, 2008... Andes Chemical Corp., a Miami-based company that received one of the Commerce Department's "Exporter of the Year" awards earlier this year, has agreed to pay a $60,000 fine for violating U.S. export control regulations. Andes Chief...

Widening the window.
June 30, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Service expansions by online portals make it easier to track shipments It's been nearly a decade since CargoSmart, GT Nexus and Inttra unveiled online portals that provide shippers, forwarders and other...

Gemini Air Cargo files for Chapter 11.
June 30, 2008... For the second time in two years, Gemini Air Cargo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Gemini Air Cargo affiliates Gemini Cargo Logistics, Gemini Leasing Holdings, Gemini Leasing have also sought bankruptcy protection. The...

TraPac cranes arrive at Jaxport.
June 30, 2008... Two of the six post-Panamax container gantry cranes ordered by MOL's TraPac Terminal at the Port of Jacksonville, Fla., arrived on June 16 and cleared the troublesome Dames Point bridge on the full-moon low tide with about five feet to spare....

Changing plans at Florida ports.
June 30, 2008... The swift current of events has caught up with several projects once considered essential to the expansion of ports in Jacksonville and Tampa. In Jacksonville, port authority Executive Director Rick Ferrin told local reporters that the...

Record construction at Port Canaveral.
June 30, 2008... Port Canaveral has announced a record $213 million in current projects, demonstrating how ports work as engines of economic development. Current construction has created 1,894 construction-related jobs, generating $207 million for the...