Florida Shipper articles from May 2007

Florida Shipper archives from May 2007

Florida economy powered by ports.
May 7, 2007... A St. Petersburg Times Editorial Published April 16, 2007 Imagine life in Florida without its 14 seaports. Gasoline would be more expensive, if available at all. Building materials would be difficult to come by. Roads would be choked with...

Growing Ports.
May 7, 2007... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam Now comes the hard part The sigh of relief could be heard over the ubiquitous shouting in the chambers of the City of Miami and Miami Dade County governing boards when three credible, affluent and reliable...

Business must lead terrorism fight.
May 7, 2007... After appropriating hundreds of millions of dollars a year to hire and staff federal law enforcement and security agencies, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said anti-terror preparedness begins and ends with the private...

Savannah finally makes top 10 'Boomtowns' list.
May 7, 2007... They are celebrating in Savannah, Ga., because the riverfront port city was rated No. 10 among Inc. magazine's list of midsize cities on its "Boomtowns 2007" list of the hottest business towns. The new listing boosts Savannah considerably from...

Georgia Port Authority adds new Navis component.
May 7, 2007... Navis, the pricy, high-tech developer of technology that manages port terminals and cargo tracking -- they call it enterprise software solutions for logistics asset visibility, control and optimization -- has been chosen to provide a $15...

Panama Canal Authority places new tugboats into service.
May 7, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority has placed into service what it says are "the most powerful tugs in its history." The new tugs will replace aging boats in the canal's current fleet. According to canal authority release, the tugs feature...

Cars shipped from Massachusetts to Haiti.
May 7, 2007... The newspapers in New Bedford are reporting that a Boston entrepreneur hopes to start an auto-shipping business linking the port of New Bedford first with Haiti and then Latin America. Hedsy Lapierre, a principal of the New England Shipping...

Costa Rica opens trade office in China.
May 7, 2007... Costa Rica's Chamber of Foreign Commerce and Foreign Business Representatives announced in April that it is opening a trade office in China. CRECEX's Foreign Trade Commission President Helga Cespedes said in a statement that Central...

Horizon Lines reports record first-quarter earnings.(Financial report)
May 7, 2007... Horizon Lines Inc. recently reported record earnings for the first quarter of 2007 despite a $1.2 million decline in operating revenue. Earnings before net interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, was $33.7 million...

Maersk's changes may lead to more traffic through East Coast ports.
May 7, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Maersk Line earned $1.3 billion in 2005 and lost $568 million last year. The world's largest container carrier is determined to return to profitability, and is implementing radical cost-cutting measures that reduce...

DOT: Gateway ports handle most import boxes.
May 7, 2007... The gap between U.S. containerized imports and exports continues to widen, with imports comprising two-thirds of the total foreign trade volume compared to slightly more than 50 percent in 1995. The flood of containerized imports into the...

Army Corps issues permits for N. Charleston terminal.
May 7, 2007... The Army Corps of Engineers recently issued permits for a new 286-acre container terminal at the former Navy Base, located north of the Port of Charleston. "It's a great day for South Carolina and for the Port of Charleston," said Bernard...

Countervailing duties could alter US-China trade relationship.
May 7, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field The decision late this spring by the U.S. Commerce Department to impose countervailing duties on coated paper from China could mark a watershed for U.S.-China trade relations. While the decision is not final, it runs...

Enforcement phases for e-manifests.
May 7, 2007... BYLINE: Rosalind McLymont Under U.S. Customs Border and Protection's Automated Commercial Environment system, or ACE, electronic manifests will become mandatory at all U.S. land border ports at the end of 2007. This means that an...

In search of fairness.
May 14, 2007... The U.S. government is spending a billion dollars per day to fight terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, it says. It is spending a couple hundred million on fielding agents and equipment to protect U.S. ports. Nevertheless, Rep. Bennie G....

Latin American experience.
May 14, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field The Spanish Renaissance, of sorts Fueled by high commodity prices and surging demand from China, Latin America's economies are enjoying a renaissance of sorts. According to Rafael Amiel, managing director for...

Good help, helps.
May 14, 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...

Exporting to South America can get tricky.
May 14, 2007... BYLINE: Richard Knee A savvy intermediary can save you a bundle of headaches and even some money if you're shipping goods to South America, according to John Abisch, president of the Miami freight consolidator Econocaribe Consolidators....

ECLAC launches trade dispute database.
May 14, 2007... Business and individuals with trade disputes in Latin America and the Caribbean can visit an online database offered by a United Nations agency for analysis of free-trade accords and the institutions responsible for resolution of trade...

Jaxport-area Chamber trip to focus on globalization.
May 14, 2007... The Jacksonville, Fla., Regional Chamber of Commerce has decided to learn from the competition and visit the future. The chamber's annual leadership program, which attracts trade-related enterprises, will focus on globalization. It includes...

Seven counties linked in Tampa Bay transportation authority.
May 14, 2007... Manatee and Sarasota counties will join a new seven-county Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority, which is empowered to finance and build transit and toll highways. The Florida House of Representatives passed a bill filed by State...

DHL partners with Sandler Travis.
May 14, 2007... Plantation-based express carrier DHL has retained Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services to offer clients in-house advice on tariff classifications, free-trade agreements, audits and other aspects of crossborder trade. The program, which...

Korea and ECLAC to export development.
May 14, 2007... The government of South Korea and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean signed a cooperation agreement to launch the project: "Building Long-Term Strategies and Public-Private Alliances for Export Development: The...

Crowley to offer LCL to Haiti.
May 14, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp. said its logistics services unit will provide service for less-than-containerloads or less-than-trailerloads between the U.S. and Haiti, starting with its May 30 sailing from Port Everglades, Fla. Crowley said...

Neutralogistics and Kestrel combine services.
May 14, 2007... Neutral Air LLC, comprised of Neutralogistics and Kestrel Liner Agencies LLC, has announced the formation of a partnership in the transportation and logistics industry to offer neutral airfreight and seafreight services to Latin America and the...

Lease-only prime minister elected in Bahamas.
May 14, 2007... Hubert Ingraham, a former prime minister, led his opposition party to victory in the Bahamas on May 2, returning to power in elections dominated by questions about the direction of the tourism-driven economy and foreign property ownership. ...

WTSA lines to raise westbound Panama Canal charges.
May 14, 2007... Shipping line members of the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement including APL, Hyundai, COSCO, "K" Line, Evergreen, NYK, Hanjin, OOCL, Hapag-Lloyd and Yang Ming said they intend to increase Panama Canal charges for the first time in...

Miami picks tunnel diggers.
May 14, 2007... A committee of state and local officials broke a technical tie and selected the French "Miami Access Tunnel team" to build, finance and operate for 35 years a new tunnel connecting the Port of Miami-Dade with Watson Island and the MacArthur...

Port Everglades trade mission shows success.
May 14, 2007... The Broward County Commission allowed its department of Port Everglades to go on a trade mission with positive results, according to Broward County Mayor Josephus Eggelletion Jr., who led the mission. Eggelletion, a long-time port...

NWA Cargo sets fee for non-Web bookings.
May 14, 2007... Northwest Airlines announced it will implement a $10 charge for some cargo shipments booked at airports or through its call center, effective May 15. The charge, for VIP same-day and Specific Air services, is the airline's way of moving...

American Air Cargo hikes fuel charge.
May 14, 2007... American Airlines Cargo on May 10 increased its fuel surcharge to 55 cents from 50 cents per kilogram on all international shipments originating in the United States. The charge for domestic shipments increased to 22 cents from 20 cents.

Nine percent solution.
May 21, 2007... There was a time not long ago when the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami was a significant transshipment port connecting the Caribbean Basin with Latin America and Europe. According to Port Director Bill Johnson, that business has declined from 26...

MIA means much to moms.
May 21, 2007... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam Spring flowers in the air You can tell that spring is in the air and Mother's Day is just around the corner two hours before sunrise every day in April and May at Miami International Airport's perishable cargo...

West Coast airfreight on the decline.
May 21, 2007... Julian Keeling, chief executive at Consolidators International Inc., an air-cargo wholesaler operating in California, is very sensitive to trends in airfreight traffic to the South Pacific and Asia because much of his forwarding business moves...

Miami tunnel at risk over Cuba connection.
May 21, 2007... Miami herald transportation columnist, Larry Lebowitz, reports that the future of a proposed tunnel to the Port of Miami may be "in limbo" because the preferred contractor has "close business ties" to the Castro government. An affiliate of...

Massachusetts begins maritime highway to Canaveral.
May 21, 2007... The Massachusetts Seaport Advisory Council has approved $3.7 million for infrastructure improvements that could boost prospects for the state becoming the northern terminus of an Atlantic short-sea shipping route that begins at Port Canaveral....

Virginia considers leasing its port.
May 21, 2007... Jerry Bridges, the new executive director of the Virginia Port Authority said this week that he would consider leasing the state's three Hampton Roads marine terminals to a private company. "We could lease our property rights to a private...

SeaFreight Line expands Caribbean services.
May 21, 2007... SeaFreight Line has begun weekly fixed-day service between Jacksonville and Port Everglades, Fla., and Port Au Price, Haiti, Georgetown, Grand Cayman Island and Montego Bay, Jamaica. The new service began on May 15, departing from...

New Seaboard sailings to Panama and Costa Rica.
May 21, 2007... Seaboard Lines announced a second weekly sailing from Miami to and from Panama and Costa Rica. According to a company press release, the Panama and Costa Rica markets have shown steady growth for the last three years, causing Seaboard to deploy...

Good news for Atlas Air.
May 21, 2007... Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings announced on May 10 that the U.S. Department of Transportation has approved a 49 percent sale of subsidiary Polar Air Cargo to DHL Express. The deal still requires approval from the Federal Aviation Administration...

Florida East Coast to go private.
May 21, 2007... Florida East Coast Industries Inc., a railroad and real-estate holding company, announced on May 8 its agreement to be acquired by private equity funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group for about $3 billion. Florida East...

Choppy waters dominate trans-Atlantic.
May 21, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Ocean carriers ran into a juggernaut on the trans-Atlantic last autumn when a wave of new capacity swamped freight rates. Importers who were socked with hefty rate increases on westbound cargo during the previous two...

S&P: New Bahamas leaders pose no threat to investors.
May 21, 2007... Victory for the Free National Movement party in the May 2 general elections held in the Bahamas is not expected to result in any significant deviation from the current prudent policy course or to delay any major investment projects, either...

Early birds.
May 28, 2007... It is important to remember that in Jacksonville the longshore unions were intimately involved in the discussion of the construction and operation of the new TraPac Terminal that will be completed in 2008 for MOL and its fellow Asian carriers....

Cargo insecurity.
May 28, 2007... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam Locals offer a better mouse trap One would think that when a smart businessman builds a device that could track a container and monitor the safety of its contents across the globe that the shipping world would beat...

Protecting your cargo.
May 28, 2007... BYLINE: Tim Donney In cargo insurance, it's sound policy for a company to develop standards of care when dealing with forwarders and carriers of their products. This ensures that the forwarders and carriers are aware of the shipper's...

TSA to meet with shippers.
May 28, 2007... Ocean carriers will meet with large and small shippers in San Francisco on June 7 and in New York on June 25 to continue a discussion on fuel costs, infrastructure concerns and service contract developments relating to the U.S. import trade...

Shipper alleges price-fixing in rail fuel surcharges.
May 28, 2007... All five U.S.-based Class 1 freight railroads face price-fixing charges in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court this month. Dust Pro, a Phoenix-based manufacturer and distributor of soil stabilizers, seeks class-action status and...

Sea Star Line expands Eastern Caribbean Services.
May 28, 2007... Sea Star Line LLC plans to begin a new service with routes into the Eastern Caribbean Islands beginning in July. The Islands that will initially be served are Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten and Tortola. Commencing on July 24, the service...

US adds labor rights, environment to trade deals.
May 28, 2007... The U.S. has adopted a new framework for bilateral trade agreements that will address labor rights and environmental standards. The agreement, announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, is expected to...

Dominican Republic seeks textile deal with Mexico.
May 28, 2007... The Dominican Republic government is working on a deal with Mexico to allow the Caribbean island nation to export the excess of textile products from its industrial free-zone parks. The Dominican Republic hopes to restructure its textile...

Hanesbrands to close Caribbean plant, lay off 1,400 workers.
May 28, 2007... Proving no one is safe from corporate efficiency experts, Hanesbrands Inc. has decided to close three plants in the Dominican Republic and cut 1,400 jobs. The Winston-Salem-based apparel company has closed 10 plants since it spun off from...

Taiwan signs free-trade pact with El Salvador, Honduras.
May 28, 2007... Taiwan has signed a free-trade agreement with El Salvador and Honduras to expand trade ties among the three countries, according to the Taiwan Bureau of Foreign Trade. The Taiwan-El Salvador-Honduras FTA, signed in San Salvador, is...

Commerce seeks to toughen export control enforcement.
May 28, 2007... BYLINE: William Armbruster The U.S. Department of Commerce has proposed new legislation aimed at enhancing its ability to enforce export controls through drastic increases in civil and criminal penalties. The Export Enforcement Act of...

Be aware of the TSA.
May 28, 2007... There was a time when Florida shippers had little reason to be interested in the permutations of the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement with few local lines involved and scarce commerce across the Pacific. Those days are over. Zim...

Florida's ports secure security funds.
May 28, 2007... The Port of Palm Beach was the only Florida port to get an increase in federal funds when the Department of Homeland Security released only $202 million to be shared by 183 key strategic applicants to defray security costs. The funding,...

DHL helps boost Deutsche Post earnings.(Financial report)
May 28, 2007... Deutsche Post World Net, the German mail and logistics group, said operating profit in the first quarter increased by nearly 9 percent from a year earlier, as its DHL express unit significantly improved its performance in the U.S. Earnings...

Correction.(Correction notice)
May 28, 2007... A Customs and Border Protection announcement about a new benefit for C-TPAT members that appeared in the April 16 Florida Shipper contained information that was improperly reproduced without attribution or permission from Shippers' NewsWire,...