Florida Shipper articles from March 2008

Florida Shipper archives from March 2008

Whoopee!
March 31, 2008... The Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and its focus on strengthening supply-chain security is an important layer in U.S. Customs and Border Protection's cargo enforcement strategy, according to the Department of Homeland Security....

'Green' takes off.
March 31, 2008... BYLINE: ROBERT W. MOORMAN It's a bird, it's a jet, it's a noun Green. What was once an adjective is now a noun. Aircraft manufacturers and their customers realized years ago that the word had the dual meaning of helping the...

Small transportation businesses lose confidence.
March 31, 2008... The Small Business Research Board's Transportation Small Business Confidence Index (T-SBCI) dropped to 35 during the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a release from the board The T-SBCI of 35 was lower than the two recorded industry...

Group calls for feds to bail out Highway Trust Fund.
March 31, 2008... Six government organizations are asking the federal government to take immediate steps to keep the Highway Trust Fund afloat, and work with state and local governments to develop sustainable resources for future transportation financing. ...

Port Manatee in the Zone.
March 31, 2008... Since last October, Manatee County Port Authority Chairman Joe McClash has been meeting with landowners, leading maritime experts and port staff to refine an idea he calls the Port Manatee Encouragement Zone. On March 19, seven large...

Panama Canal defers maintenance to ease delays.
March 31, 2008... The Panama Canal Authority is deferring maintenance work on the waterway to ease a backlog of vessels. In February, a backlog developed after lanes were briefly shut down for maintenance work at the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks. "We...

Canaveral's wish becomes two stars.
March 31, 2008... Disney Cruise Line has agreed to make Port Canaveral home for both of the newest super liner cruise ships in its fleet beginning in 2011. Port Canaveral has been in long negotiations with Disney over the future of its dedicated terminal...

Dominican Shipping Association seeks port reforms.
March 31, 2008... The Business News Web site in Chile is reporting that after the Dominican Republic released container processing times in the country's port network in early February, the Dominican Shipping Association resolved to reduce the 10-day average...

Maruba Lines ups inland haulage.
March 31, 2008... Maruba Lines has set a new tariff charge affecting both commodity and service contracted rates, effective April 21. Its inland haulage range between Miami and Port Everglades or between Fort Lauderdale and Port Everglades will be $330...

Running near empty.
March 31, 2008... BYLINE: MIKE SEEMUTH AND RICK EYERDAM Roadblocks defined for airfreight truckers The move of expedited air shipments to the ground has been a hallmark of domestic transportation in the U.S. for at least a decade, but that trend may...

US, EU to research impact of alliances, open-skies agreement.
March 31, 2008... The U.S. Department of Transportation and the European Commission have launched a new joint research project aimed at deepening their understanding of how alliances have affected competition in trans-Atlantic markets and the potential impact...

Export-driven trucking.
March 31, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN GALLAGHER Carriers turn to export market to keep business rolling, make up revenue shortfall As the trucking industry gets rocked by ruthless price slashing spurred by slack demand, more carriers are turning to the...

Los Angeles-Long Beach courting problems when growth resumes.
March 31, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex is suffering in the short term because of weak imports from Asia and cargo diversions to East Coast ports, but long-term problems will be even worse if the hub is not able...

Maersk sells trans-Atlantic slots to CMA CGM.
March 31, 2008... On March 17, Maersk Line announced that it entered a slot charter agreement with CMA CGM in the trans-Atlantic trade. In a release, the carrier said the agreement covers 900 TEUs on a weekly basis on its TA3 service from North Europe to...

New service to operate from Port Canaveral.
March 31, 2008... International shipping operator Stellar Freight Ltd. has moved its service from south Florida to Port Canaveral, with the first ship to call during the first week of April. The line specializes in export of equipment and project cargoes to...

Beluga SkySails completes maiden voyage.
March 31, 2008... The multipurpose heavy-lift project carrier Beluga SkySails finished its nearly two-month maiden voyage from Germany to Venezuela, the U.S. and Norway, demonstrating a new kind of hybrid drive on the water that aims to reduce voyage costs and...

Fund the deal.
March 24, 2008... In California, they are using the ports as straw men to thrash out the more serious problems of automobile air pollution, unionization and state's rights to regulate international businesses and keep dangerous old trucks off the roads. The...

Blind man's bluff.
March 24, 2008... BYLINE: RICHARD KNEE AND PETER T. LEACH South America trade is difficult to define Like the six blind men from Indostan trying to figure out what the elephant looked like, anyone who examines U.S. trade with South America hears a...

'K' Line, MOL upgrade Asia-Mexico-S. America service.
March 24, 2008... Japanese carriers "K" Line and MOL on March 12 announced plans to upgrade their Asia-Mexico-west coast South America liner service with the introduction of a second loop, effective this month. In a joint release, the lines said they will...

Retailers to Port of Oakland: Reject container fees.
March 24, 2008... The National Retail Federation is urging the Port of Oakland to reject a proposal to impose new container fees similar to those approved recently in Los Angeles and Long Beach. The NRF wants Oakland to adopt a plan to ease air pollution...

Some remittances declined in 2007.
March 24, 2008... Remittances sent to Latin America by expatriates around the world reached $66.5 billion last year, but increased at a slower pace than in previous years, the Inter-American Development Bank said in a recent report. The figure increased...

Crowley Maritime expands box fleet.
March 24, 2008... Crowley Maritime's liner services group plans to acquire more than 1,500 new containers and related cargo-handling units this year. The order includes 50 45-foot containers with recycled, composite material floors made by Singamas, a more...

High costs hamper Caribbean shipping industry.
March 24, 2008... High costs and long port delays are major problems for Caribbean nations. Costs associated with importing a 20-foot container range from $1,860 in Haiti to $756 in St. Kitts and Nevis, according to the World Bank. In Jamaica, the cost is...

TropicalDirect proves its worth.
March 24, 2008... Less than a year after its launch, an ocean service designed to take some of the hassles out of sending small shipments from the U.S. to the Caribbean appears to be living up to its expectations. The service, TropicalDirect, allows...

Shrimpers criticize FDA inspections.
March 24, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD A segment of the U.S. shrimp industry called on the Food and Drug Administration to step up inspections of foreign food shipments, and said the government relies too heavily on importers to protect the food supply....

Analysis: Clinton and Obama vie to outdo each other in criticism of NAFTA.
March 24, 2008... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Trade likely to be prominent issue in general election campaign Remember when Democrats and Republicans agreed that free trade was a good thing? Remember when the North American Free Trade Agreement was widely...

Mexico: Future US-Asia trade gateway.
March 24, 2008... BYLINE: RICHARD KNEE AND STEPHANIE NALL Government invests in new ports, highway and rail systems to attract cargo A good chunk of the cargo crossing into Mexico from the U.S. originates in Asia. And it's likely that a lot of Asian...

Ports America opens intermodal hub in Mexico.
March 24, 2008... The Ports America Group announced the opening of the Puerta Mexico Intermodal Facility at the industrial zone of Toluca, west of Mexico City. The new terminal, which was purchased by Marine Terminals Corp. before that company was merged into...

Port Manatee's Mexico and Texas connection.
March 24, 2008... The Manatee County Port Authority approved the concepts presented in a new master plan for the port late last month. The plan emphasizes preserving the port's existing customer base while increasing its ability to handle container cargo. It...

Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM to launch vessel-sharing agreement.
March 24, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH The world's three largest container lines have entered into the biggest-ever vessel-sharing agreement in the trans-Pacific trade that will enable them to replace four of their own individual services. Maersk...

Hapag-Lloyd doubles profit; merger rumors swirl.(Financial report)
March 24, 2008... BYLINE: BRUCE BARNARD Hapag-Lloyd more than doubled earnings in 2007, but the world's fifth-largest ocean container carrier is facing renewed uncertainty over its future. Earnings before tax, interest and depreciation reached 197 million...

Latin American air cargo sags as overall volume surges on US airlines.
March 24, 2008... Cargo traffic on U.S. airlines in January registered the biggest monthly increase overall since August 2006, according to a report from the Air Transport Association of America. Domestic cargo had the biggest gain since last May and the...

Thank you, California.
March 17, 2008... I put together a special report on the recent 8th Annual Trans-Pacific Maritime Conference sponsored by The Journal of Commerce, a sister publication of Florida Shipper. It was a huge success with 3,000 of the top-echelon maritime community...

Uncertain times in the trans-Pacific.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH There are only two certainties this year in the trans-Pacific trades: U.S. import growth will be sluggish at best, and U.S. exports will continue to increase. Nearly everything else involves questions: Will...

East Coast ports gaining cost advantages.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH The historic dominance of West Coast ports in the U.S. trade with Asia is being threatened by East and Gulf Coast ports, which continue to gain containerized cargo from Asia because of their relative cost...

Word to the wise.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: DAVID BIEDERMAN, R.G. EDMONSON and RICK EYERDAM Florida's ro-ro services are exceptional The accepted wisdom is that ports make more money on five-high stacks of full containers than they do on a level plane filed with...

Truckers balk at TWIC rules.
March 17, 2008... Truckers who haul dangerous goods say some shippers are requiring they get the new federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential, a substantial expansion of the ID card many say they cannot meet. The dispute between truckers...

Study recommends Los Angeles employee-driver plan.
March 17, 2008... A consultant hired by the Port of Los Angeles has advised the harbor commission that an employee-driver model for a clean-trucks program would be the best option for establishing a sustainable drayage fleet in the harbor. Simon Goodall,...

US closing in-bond gaps.
March 17, 2008... Customs and Border Protection is planning a series of updates that will close security gaps for shipments that move long distances within the U.S. before the merchandise is unloaded and duties are paid. "We have to gain better control of...

Little progress made at Caricom meeting.
March 17, 2008... Trade ministers and heads of government from the 15-nation Caribbean Community considered a broad agenda including a list of items to be excluded from import taxes at a meeting held in the Bahamian capital of Nassau earlier this month. ...

Chiquita to source bananas from Africa.
March 17, 2008... Chiquita Brands International Inc. announced on March 4 an agreement it called a "long-term strategic associations in Africa for the export of bananas to the company's core European markets." The company said the partnerships in Angola...

Wanted: experienced port director.
March 17, 2008... The Port of Palm Beach District, an independent special taxing district, a subdivision of the state of Florida and a major trade depot for Caribbean nations, has asked that the trade media post its requirements for a new port director. The...

Los Angeles truck crisis looms.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The transportation community in Southern California could face a severe shortage of harbor trucking capacity this fall because of conflicting clean-air plans and the federal Transportation Worker Identification...

West Coast dock labor talks begin this week.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER Labor negotiations between the union representing West Coast dockworkers and management are scheduled to begin this week, said Anthony Scioscia, senior vice president of labor relations for Maersk Inc. ...

Box capacity dwindles as exports rise.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO Richard McDuffie, senior vice president of global logistics at Dunavant Enterprises Inc., is having so much trouble getting empty containers in west Texas and the South that he is moving his company's cotton in...

Maersk chief: Trans-Pacific carriers need to price profitably.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: JOSEPH BONNEY The chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk recently said container carriers need to price profitably, attack infrastructure problems, improve business processes and find ways to operate in a more environmentally...

FMC asked to bar LA clean-trucks plan.
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO The American Trucking Associations' intermodal division has urged the Federal Maritime Commission to prevent what it termed an illegal trucking concession mechanism from being enforced at the ports of Los Angeles...

Jaxport posts another revenue record.(Financial report)
March 17, 2008... The Jacksonville Port Authority released its fiscal 2007 annual report showing the seventh consecutive year of growth in operating revenue despite declines in container throughput and breakbulk shipments The Port of Jacksonville, known as...

China becomes No. 3 export market for US.
March 17, 2008... China became the third-largest export market in 2007 for the U.S., surpassing Japan, according to an annual trade report released by the Bush administration on March 4. Goods exports to China continued to increase last year, up 17...

Wilhelmsen's profit off.(Financial report)
March 17, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH Norway's Wilh. Wilhelmsen group reported last month that fourth-quarter 2007 net operating profit dropped 64 percent to $59 million from $165 million a year earlier, when profit was boosted by the sale of its...

Nice going, Miami.
March 10, 2008... I think the tunnel to the Port of Miami is a good idea that should have been done 25 years ago when it was first suggested by Miami News Publisher Sylvan Meyer. It is a bad idea now because of who is being asked to pay and because there are...

It's all relative.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: RICK EYERDAM South Florida ports defy gravitation When it comes to reporting about ports, almost everything is relative, depending on how you look at it. Most recently the Port of Miami conducted its annual...

Port Manatee opens Gulf maritime highway.
March 10, 2008... SeaBridge Freight has selected Port Manatee for its first container-on-barge, trans-Gulf service to and from the Port of Brownsville, Texas, a major connection for Mexico trade. By the end of April, SeaBridge said it will offer...

S. Calif. shippers facing another container fee.
March 10, 2008... Shippers that move containers through California ports would incur yet another fee if a bill sponsored by state Sen. Alan Lowenthal is approved by the Legislature and signed into law. Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, removed from the California...

NVOs can't use unlicensed agents, FMC rules.
March 10, 2008... The Federal Maritime Commission has ruled that a licensed ocean transportation intermediary may not use unlicensed parties as agents to offer ocean forwarding or non-vessel-operating common carrier services. In a 3-1 opinion, the...

Bucking the trend in housing and home furnishings.
March 10, 2008... The century-old shelter magazine House & Garden ceased publication in December -- more collateral damage from the U.S. housing market meltdown. As Michael Andrews, chief economist at PIERS Global Intelligence Solutions, puts it succinctly:...

Costa Rica granted delay for CAFTA qualification.
March 10, 2008... The United States and its five partners in the Central America Free Trade Agreement have agreed to provide additional time for Costa Rica to complete the legislative and regulatory steps required to join the accord, U.S. Trade Representative...

Crowley Maritime takes over Guatemala logistics services.
March 10, 2008... Crowley Maritime Corp. announced that as of March 4 its logistics unit began providing logistics services in Guatemala with Crowley staff. Logistics previously had been provided by third-party agent MAPA S.A. Customers now have a single...

MSC to offer new service to Central America.
March 10, 2008... Mediterranean Shipping Co. (USA) Inc. announced a weekly direct service from Port Everglades to Puerto Santo Tomas De Castilla in Guatemala, Puerto Cortes in Honduras, and Puerto Limon in Costa Rica beginning this month. The new service...

Potential nutritional crisis confronts Central America.
March 10, 2008... The United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP) has warned of a potential nutritional crisis in Central America, where the prices of wheat and corn have nearly doubled in the past year. The agency said that the surge has meant that the...

Singapore remains world's busiest box port.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO Intra-Asia trade fuels economic growth in Southeast Asia Singapore maintained its position as the world's top container port last year, and its intra-Asia trade is expected to provide continued growth, even...

Brazil seeking closer ties with Southeast Asia.
March 10, 2008... The Macau Times is reporting that Brazil is seeking closer trade relations with Southeast Asia, quoting the South American nation's minister for external relations during a visit to Singapore. Celso Amorim, who arrived in Singapore from a...

Overshadowed by the giants.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER World Bank study finds Southeast Asia easier to do business with than China and India China, Korea and Singapore are so much in the minds of Florida shippers and Florida's ports that, most of Southeast Asia...

ASEAN chief stresses importance of regional charter for Southeast Asia.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: JERRY BURRUS The Association of Southeast Asian Nations could rapidly slip into irrelevance if the organization does not rapidly reinvent itself, the group's secretary-general warned. That rethinking, according to Surin...

Dubai plans flower trade hub.
March 10, 2008... Dubai International Airport has established a flower center in its cargo terminal, according to representatives of the Arab Brazilian Chamber and the Ministry of Agriculture who visited recently to discuss the export of Brazilian flowers. ...

Baer resigns from Port of Palm Beach.
March 10, 2008... BYLINE: RICK EYERDAM One day after Lori Baer resigned as director of the Port of Palm Beach, Fla., its District Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to make the current deputy director, Kathy Andress, the acting port director. ...

CMA-CGM picks Nesbeth for Jamaica.
March 10, 2008... CMA CGM, has appointed Leopold Nesbeth as general manager of its Jamaica operations at the Port of Kingston, operating at the Kingston Container Terminal. Nesbeth was introduced at a customer appreciation cocktail party recently held by...

DP World reorganizes regions, appoints executives.
March 10, 2008... Dubai-based marine terminal operator DP World announced late last month the appointments of Flemming Dalgaard as senior vice president and managing director of its Europe and Russia region, and Anil Singh as senior vice president and managing...

Ports America promotes Stone.
March 10, 2008... Ports America has appointed Peter Stone to the position of chief commercial officer. Stone joins Ports America from Summitt Global Logistics, where he served as a senior vice president. Stone has held key strategic planning and...

Ceres appoints Savannah, security VPs.
March 10, 2008... Ceres Terminals Inc. announced the appointment of Steve Crouch to vice president, environment, safety and security, and Brad Ziegler, vice president of the Ceres Savannah operations. Crouch is based in the Ceres Portsmouth, Va., location and...

Attention must be paid.
March 3, 2008... Federal agencies often don't get a lot of attention until there is a crisis. That was the case with the Consumer Products Safety Commission until last year. Under the Bush administration, the agency's staff has been whittled down, leaving...

Cruise control.(Company overview)
March 3, 2008... Caribbean ports tested by tourism, transshipment When you live on an island far out to sea and the tide is rising every year, global warming takes on a whole new meaning. But there are more immediate concerns. When you live on an...

Pain on the Spanish Main.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH Caught in a political deadlock between the governor and the Legislature, the Puerto Rican economy continues to decline for what could be the third year in a row. Forced to pay ever-higher prices for gasoline,...

Carriers look to the East (Coast) for growth.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: JOHN D. BOYD Congestion, rail rate hikes and longshore costs push boxes from Pacific ports and long intermodal journeys Amid a prolonged slowdown in intermodal business, a new container terminal in Virginia could become...

Parting clouds.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO Long Beach, Los Angeles drift apart on clean-air plan For months, the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have cooperated to develop an anti-pollution program that would phase out older,...

Long Beach approves clean-trucks plan.
March 3, 2008... The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners unanimously voted to move ahead with a Clean Trucks Program that they say will slash truck-related air pollution by 80 percent within four years but permit owner-operators to stay in business. ...

Obama proposes 'bank' for infrastructure spending.
March 3, 2008... Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama believes infrastructure spending can help him build a bridge to the White House. The U.S. senator from Illinois is calling for billions of dollars in new funding for highways, bridges,...

No quick changes anticipated in post-Fidel trade between Cuba, US.
March 3, 2008... Cuba's political and economic relationship with the U.S. is unlikely to change much in the wake of Fidel Castro's resignation after nearly 50 years as president and commander-in-chief. Castro's brother Raul, another staunch Communist, has...

GAO questions efficacy of Cuba trade embargo.
March 3, 2008... The U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is preventing government resources from implementing sanctions against other nations, including Iran, and exposing the U.S. to potential terrorists entering the country, according to a report issued in...

Trinidad and Barbados plan to improve air, ferry services.
March 3, 2008... Trinidad and Barbados are developing plans for improved air and ferry transport, Trinidad Prime Minister Patrick Manning told local reporters recently. Manning told reporters at a media conference with Barbados Prime Minister David...

Jaxport begins decade of development.
March 3, 2008... When Rick Ferrin was asked at Jacksonville's annual state-of-the-port presentation what he would request if granted three wishes, the port's executive director replied: deeper channels, more land and complete intermodal connections, including...

Canaveral's fuel depot plans advance.
March 3, 2008... Saddened by the passing of board member Rodney Ketcham, Canaveral Port Authority commissioners nevertheless conducted business as usual last month and approved a lease date for petroleum giant Vitol SA Inc. to begin development of a fuel...

Focus of TWIC turns to card readers.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. EDMONSON The Transportation Worker Identification Credential is nothing but a costly piece of plastic without the devices to read the data embedded on the card. Now that TWIC enrollment is rolling across the land, the...

FAA's bumpy ride.
March 3, 2008... BYLINE: ARI NATTER Senate holds up administrator's confirmation amid record delays, shortage of traffic controllers The Federal Aviation Administration is hitting some turbulence. Flight delays last year reached record highs, the...