Florida Shipper articles from May 2006

Florida Shipper archives from May 2006

The Idea: How Malcom McLean risked everything to realize the idea that consumed him.
May 1, 2006... This article has been adapted from "The Box That Changed The World," written by Joseph Bonney and Arthur Donovan, and published by Commonwealth Business Media. Malcom P. McLean never claimed to have invented containerization. He often said...

Another page of history.
May 1, 2006... 1956 Malcom McLean's Pan-Atlantic Steamship Co. launches modern containerization with sailing of Ideal X, carrying 58 33-foot containers from Newark, N.J., to Houston. 1957 The first cellular container ship enters service with the sailing...

Thinking outside the box by thinking inside the box.
May 1, 2006... BYLINE: Paul Scott Abbott Long before cargo began moving in 40-foot-long containers, let alone 53-footers, shipping pioneers were beginning the containerization revolution with boxes of unusually smaller dimensions. As the industry...

Past as prelude.
May 1, 2006... Everyone knows someone who claimed to be the real inventor of some idea that ultimately made others rich or famous. Containers were a godsend to the industry because the only people who were happy loading and unloading vessels by hand and crane...

One step ahead.
May 1, 2006... Few of the men still working as leaders in the maritime industry have enjoyed as many innovative insights, successes and near misses as Arthur C. Novacek, current president of Eller & Co. Once again, he is taking the lead on a controversial...

The big IF: Expect the unexpected.
May 8, 2006... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam When Congress decided to compel DP World to divest its P&O Terminal American holdings, the Port of Tampa was in the middle of the process of replacing SSA Terminals with P&O. At the same time, Israel's Zim...

Loyal to the score.
May 8, 2006... One of the few good things about the Dubai ports hysteria is that it disclosed hidden inabilities among political leaders previously offset by their aides until they got up to speed. When it came to ports and terminals, few around Congress had...

Israelis and Emirates plan cargo loop.
May 8, 2006... Demonstrating a more broadminded approach than its U.S. allies, Israel's Zim Integrated Shipping Services has formed a partnership with Emirates Shipping Line of Dubai, the Shipping Corp. of India and CMA CGM's MacAndrews on a weekly U.S. East...

Customs puts C-TPAT filing on the line.
May 8, 2006... The U.S. Customs and Border Protection's new Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program's Internet Application and Communications Portal will be mandatory for all eligible participants. U.S. and Canadian highway carriers must start...

California's port smog plan Board approves.
May 8, 2006... The California Air Resources Board has approved a plan to reduce the state's "port pollution," employing a combination of stricter emission regulations, financial incentives for good behavior and pollution-trading programs. The plan is...

Panama Canal fees rising.
May 8, 2006... Recent auctions for slots in the Panama Canal have revealed the prices ocean cargo carriers are willing to pay for the handy short-cut. Beginning in April, the base rate was set at $125,100. Those who opted for a reservation paid an additional...

Crowley adds Bahamas sailing.
May 8, 2006... Crowley Maritime Corp.'s liner services group announced that it has added a second weekly, fixed-day sailing from Port Everglades to Nassau. The new schedule serves the Bahamas twice a week from Port Everglades, sailing on Tuesday and Sunday,...

APL launches third South America service.
May 8, 2006... APL announced a third service linking U.S. East Coast ports with South America. The fixed weekly sailings to the east coast of South America are called Samba. They begin southbound from Port Newark, N.J., and call at Philadelphia, Norfolk,...

CKYH upgrades East Coast loops.
May 8, 2006... The CKYH Alliance of Cosco, "K" Line, Yang Ming Line, and Hanjin Shipping will each deploy two Panamax 4,000-TEU container ships to jointly operate the new all-water AWE-5 service on the Asia-U.S. East Coast trade. This is the alliance's...

ECLAC urges increased investment.
May 8, 2006... The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has expressed concern about the decline in foreign direct investment in the region, which by United Nations' definition include Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. And it...

Shifts in CAFTA improve southbound outlook.
May 8, 2006... The U.S., El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua have implemented a series of modifications to the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and the U.S. has agreed to extend similar changes to the other three nations awaiting implementation of the...

Columbia Group lands Stephen C. Harrington.
May 8, 2006... Stephen C. Harrington has been appointed regional manager of the Columbia Group of companies. Based in Miami, he will be in charge of business development in the South and Gulf regions of the country for all three companies comprising Columbia...

Palendat to head trucking for CSX Intermodal.
May 8, 2006... CSX Intermodal has promoted Michael Palendat to assistant vice president, trucking operations, effective immediately. In his new role, Palendat will be responsible for managing nationwide door-to-door deliveries and pickups by the company's...

Towsley resigns from Port of Miami.
May 8, 2006... Charles A. Towsley, director of the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami-Dade, has submitted his resignation, effective June 5. "There is no incident or event that precipitated my decision," Towsley said, "It is kind of like what Katie Couric...

Reactors.
May 15, 2006... Argentina is the birthplace of the tango and, most recently has stepped into an elaborate and daunting political tango among South American leaders Evo Morales of Bolivia, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Cuban...

Time to make security an election issue.
May 15, 2006... The political winds are blowing in the direction of increased inspection of air and sea cargo. Advocates of a bill filed by Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts would have us believe that almost none of the air cargo is inspected for explosives or...

Eller now blogger fodder.
May 15, 2006... Art Novacek, president of Eller, confides that he wishes it would all go away, especially after the Containerization Anniversary party at the Smithsonian where his old friends kidded him about that silly PortsforUs.com, an anti-Arab Web site....

Bird flu could shut Canada border.
May 15, 2006... The U.S. said it would consider closing its land border to Canada during an outbreak of bird flu, despite the crippling effects it could have on trade. In a 227-page report outlining its plans to fight an avian flu pandemic, the White...

April ACE duties top $500 million.
May 15, 2006... A record $510.6 million in duties and fees was collected in April by U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the Automated Commercial Environment monthly payment feature. This represents 25 percent of total duties and fees collected by...

FAA satisfied with new labor deal.
May 15, 2006... The head of the Federal Aviation Administration told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that she will unilaterally implement the agency's final labor contract offer on June 5. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey said the current contract has...

Zim departure impacts Port Everglades.
May 15, 2006... Zim Integrated Shipping Services has withdrawn as a vessel provider on the joint U.S. East Coast/east coast South America East Coast Americas Service with Hanjin Shipping, "K" Line and MOL, according to local reports. The remaining...

Caribbean bunker fees to rise.
May 15, 2006... The Association of West India Trans-Atlantic Steam Ship Lines, the European/South Pacific and Magellan Conference and the New Caribbean Service Rate Agreement have announced in increase in their bunker surcharges for the month of June,...

Peru to export citrus to US.
May 15, 2006... The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service late last month amended its regulations to allow the import of grapefruit, limes, mandarin oranges or tangerines, sweet oranges and tangelos grown in Peru. ...

Coast Guard investigates leak of hazardous cargo.
May 15, 2006... The Coast Guard launched an investigation into a hazardous leak that took place aboard the cargo vessel Horizon Producer on May 2 while it was en route to New Jersey from Puerto Rico. The Coast Guard received a report from the National...

Fuel cuts Chiquita income 77 percent.
May 15, 2006... Chiquita Brands International Inc. today reported first-quarter 2006 net income of $20 million. The company reported net income of $87 million in the same quarter last year. The 2006 quarterly results include $50 million of higher costs...

Jacksonville attracts distribution center.
May 15, 2006... The Ross Perot company Hillwood has reached an agreement to develop a 400,000-square-foot, build-to-suit distribution center in Jacksonville, Fla., for Laney & Duke Terminal Warehouse Co. As part of the deal, Hillwood also purchased a...

Port of Miami seeks access answers.
May 15, 2006... Under fire from truckers and shippers to ease access and reduce drayage intervals, the Port of Miami's outgoing director Charles Towsley has re-introduced several controversial action plans to ease the crunch. As part of this effort, the...

No port slowdown for May.
May 15, 2006... The nation's major retail container ports are operating smoothly this month as the busy summer shipping season approaches, according to the May Port Tracker report released on May 5 by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight. The...

Deadline set for port background checks.
May 15, 2006... Port facility operators and unions have until May 30 to submit the names of workers for security background checks, the Coast Guard announced. The Federal Register notice says that facilities must submit employee names, birth dates, Social...

NVOCC Trade: The automation imperative.
May 22, 2006... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam It was a small, bold headline on the winter 2005 bulletin of the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America. It said: Reautomate or Perish. And that dire message came from some of the most informed...

Customs to host ACE exchange conference.
May 22, 2006... U.S. Customs and Border Protection will host the first Automated Commercial Environment exchange conference in Chicago, Aug. 15-17. ACE is the new cargo processing system that will eventually replace the Automated Commercial System. Once ACE is...

The INTTRA automation option.
May 22, 2006... In the fall of 2001, several of the world's largest ocean cargo carriers created a standardized system for shippers to communicate and book their shipping needs. INTTRA's investors are the carriers themselves, consisting of industry...

Election issue specifics.
May 22, 2006... It is election time and people will be asking for campaign contributions. Before you agree, insist on something in return - something governments ought to do. Ask, "Will you actively support government tax credits to companies that comply with...

Miami Commissioner opposes tax for port tunnel.
May 22, 2006... Miami Commissioner Johnny Winton told local reporters that he will attempt to block any taxation of Miami residents to help finance a tunnel connecting the Port of Miami to the McArthur Causeway. The tunnel would allow truck traffic to flow...

WESTAC study: Freight outpacing western capacity.
May 22, 2006... There is good news for Gulf and Florida ports, according to the Western Transportation Advisory Council. West Coast capacity won't be able to keep up with skyrocketing trade as container throughput at Lower Mainland British Columbia ports is...

Port of Los Angeles to get floating barriers.
May 22, 2006... The Port of Los Angeles said its Board of Harbor Commissioners has voted to spend $2.9 million in Transportation Security Administration Port Security Grant Funds on waterborne security barriers similar to those developed and in use at Port...

Carriers boost fuel surcharge.
May 22, 2006... Citing the continued rise in fuel prices, the Caribbean Shipowners Association have raised their bunker surcharge an average of about 50 percent for each category of cargo between the U.S. and all destinations in the Caribbean. The...

TACA to raise fuel surcharges.
May 22, 2006... Carriers of the Trans-Atlantic Conference Agreement plan to raise their bunker rates from June 16 through July 15. TACA's bunker rates for traffic to, from and via U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports will be $467 (up from $423) per 20-foot...

Funding for Kingston expansion.
May 22, 2006... Jamaica's Cabinet has approved a $13.7 million contract to expand capacity at the Kingston Container Terminal. The project is the fifth expansion of the port, a major transshipment hub. In February, the House of Representatives...

Logistics providers seek good help.
May 22, 2006... BYLINE: William Hoffman The accelerating trend of shippers outsourcing more critical and even core business operations to third-party providers makes logistics a hot area for hiring, though many potential employers still have a hard time...

Expeditors net up 70 percent.
May 22, 2006... Expeditors International of Washington reported that revenue for the first quarter increased 24 percent year-on-year to $1.02 billion, while operating income ballooned 69 percent to $85.4 million and net income increased 70 percent to $52.4...

Time to spare.
May 22, 2006... Dubai deal won't unwind until fallBy Peter T. Leach and Rick Eyerdam With as many as 30 U.S. companies waiting to examine the consolidated financial results of the five U.S. terminals and stevedoring operations in more than a dozen other...

Senate drafts new cargo-security bill.
May 22, 2006... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Senate panel leaders have repackaged transportation and supply-chain security legislation in an apparent challenge to the GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act, which was approved by the Senate Homeland Security and...

Beware of the Trojan horse.
May 29, 2006... BYLINE: David Biederman  Global risks can be insured Citing environmental concerns, a community in southwestern India revokes the water-use permit for a PepsiCo bottling plant. Motorola Inc. closes its China headquarters in...

Another election issue.
May 29, 2006... On May 1, the Port of Long Beach board approved an amendment of the 20-year lease for the SSA Terminals' Pier C facility that includes some offsets to the terminal. It plans to phase in the use of cold-ironing and other green technologies,...

US companies: buy our socks.
May 29, 2006... It was the vote that sealed the Central American Free Trade Agreement. It came from the congressmen from sock-producing states who only agreed to vote in support of the president on CAFTA in exchange for protectionist trade barriers against...

Oil investors should avoid US, banker suggests.
May 29, 2006... Arab oil producers have been advised by Deutsche Bank's chief economist to diversify their portfolios and move away from traditional U.S. assets toward other investments, including euro-based assets, European firms or regional markets Faced...

Horizon investors offer secondary shares.
May 29, 2006... Two key investors in Horizon Lines plan to sell 5.8 million shares of common stock. In a registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Charlotte-based Horizon said it will offer a total of about 5.8 million...

Jamaica Ship Registry welcomes new German ship.
May 29, 2006... The Jamaica Ship Registry says that it has underlined its commitment to attracting only quality tonnage by welcoming the first German-owned newbuilding to its fleet. The 700-TEU CFS Pafilia, which is owned by the Bremen-based Harren &...

Guatemala and El Salvador move toward CAFTA participation.
May 29, 2006... Guatemala moved closer to implementing CAFTA on May 18 when its Legislature passed the laws that Washington requires as a prerequisite to implementation. Congress modified 16 laws on issues ranging from animal health to intellectual...

Americas lead Hellmann growth.
May 29, 2006... Hellmann Worldwide Logistics expanded operations in new markets and leveraged new technologies to increase global revenue by 11 percent on a currency-adjusted basis. The company hired 500 people in fiscal 2005, expanding its work force to 6,543...

Trailer Bridge posts loss on lower utilization.
May 29, 2006... Trailer Bridge on Monday reported a first-quarter loss despite a slight revenue increase because dry-docking cut into utilization levels on the southbound and northbound legs of the tug-barge operator's Puerto Rican trade lanes. The...

CAFTA payback under way.
May 29, 2006... The three nations that have complied with U.S. mandates to achieve implementation of the CAFTA trade accords are beginning to receive tangible benefits worth more than $300 million. The U.S. has announced a $120 million program to spur...

FCBF celebrates 47th year by honoring industry leaders.
May 29, 2006... The Florida Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association honored three industry leaders at its recent 47th Annual Gala, including the presentation of its first "Lifetime Achievement" award. The customs and international trade law firm of...

TSA begins process for new rules.
May 29, 2006... The Transportation Security Administration is preparing to release specifics in the Federal Register about the strengthened air-cargo security requirements it has been promising since 2001. When the rules are published, TSA and Miami...