Florida Shipper articles from October 2007

Florida Shipper archives from October 2007

Playing catch-up.
October 1, 2007... When I asked the gentlemen on a panel at Sea Cargo America whether it was time to begin structuring a Florida statewide port authority, all hemmed and hawed except Bill Johnson, Miami port director. Johnson said it might be time to consider a...

The perfect storm: Paperwork, congestion, inspection and reprisal will shipwreck shippers, experts warn.
October 1, 2007... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam The conditions for the perfect storm are forming, experts told those attending the Sea Cargo Americas Conference, held Sept. 16-18, and shippers can expect a shipwreck unless there is a radical change in course. ...

Florida ports falling behind.
October 1, 2007... The growth of containerized trade will continue to increase in the U.S. until it chokes the nation's transportation grid. But the Port of Miami has lost its role as a transshipment hub because it is too congested and too expensive to compete...

Customs to release draft of 10+2 plan.
October 1, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Importers this month should see what Customs and Border Protection's latest security initiative involves when the draft plan of the so-called "10+2" program is released. The initiative will expand the current...

History will severely judge a rejection of FTAs.
October 1, 2007... BYLINE: Carlos M. Gutierrez Last month, in Medellin, Colombia, a bipartisan U.S. delegation rode high above a once-violent and poverty-stricken neighborhood of Santo Domingo Savio in El Metro Cable, a modern mass-transit cable system. We...

People complicate trade.
October 1, 2007... No matter how logical the arguments in favor of free trade, there are always people involved. The new head of the Panama Legislature stands accused of killing a U.S. soldier long ago, and that could kill hopes for that trade accord. In...

DHS receives failing grades.
October 1, 2007... A four-year report card on the Department of Homeland Security shows that it has failed to complete major projects, programs and plans that are needed to protect the nation, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., said recently. "All in all,...

TWIC enrollment may begin this month.
October 1, 2007... A senior Department of Homeland Security official has told congressmen that enrollment for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential could begin this month. Homeland Security undersecretary for Management Paul A. Schneider said...

Customs targeting criticized.
October 1, 2007... When it was first proposed to the shipping community, the concept of advanced document filing was described by Customs as a way to better track commerce, detect dumping and collect appropriate tariffs. It had nothing to do with terrorism. ...

Gildan purchases sock maker.
October 1, 2007... Gildan Activewear Inc. has made a move on Wal-Mart by agreeing to pay up to $135 million for Wal-Mart's largest sock supplier, V.I. Prewett & Son Inc. The Montreal-based maker of T-shirts is a major client at the Port of Miami, where it...

Private cruise island planned off Belize City.
October 1, 2007... It is called The Stake Bank Cruise Ship Tourism Project and it has stirred up controversy among Belize businessmen and women who rely on cruise ship passengers to enter the city of Belize to spend their dollars. Mike Feinstein, an area...

IDB holds conference to mobilize Aid for Trade.
October 1, 2007... Regional integration and foreign trade are crucial to consolidate growth in the region and eradicate poverty, said Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank at a regional Aid for Trade meeting for Latin America and...

Veratudela joins Albion Staffing.
October 1, 2007... Albion Staffing Solutions Inc. has appointed Katherine Veratudela transportation and logistics specialist. She will oversee all staffing solutions related to forwarding, customs brokerage, non-vessel-operating common carriers and...

Siegel confirmed as next ambassador to the Bahamas.
October 1, 2007... On Sept. 12, the U.S. Senate approved Ned Siegel, a Florida real estate executive, to fill the post as the 12th U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas. In a document filed with the Senate, Siegel pledged to look after the interests of the millions...

Rodriguez named senior VP for Active Freight and Logistics.
October 1, 2007... Active International announced that Hector Rodriguez joined the company as senior vice president of its wholly owned Miami-based subsidiary Active Freight and Logistics. Active operates a global network of full-service freight and shipping...

ST&R adds legislative veteran.
October 1, 2007... Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. has retained J.J. Piskadlo as a government relations adviser for south Florida's importers, exporters, retailers, trade associations, foreign governments and others on international trade negotiations,...

Developers vs. breakbulk in Puerto Rico.
October 1, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Protests spark from plans to move breakbulk operations from San Juan to Ponce Management and labor in the Port of San Juan have teamed up to fight an attempt by the Puerto Rico Ports Authority to move the port's...

Antillean launches Panama service.
October 1, 2007... Antillean Marina will launch a fixed weekly sailing, connecting its busy Miami River terminal with Manzanillo, Panama, by way of Puerto Prince, Haiti, beginning on Oct. 2. According to Christian Larach, traffic manager, the rotation will...

World airfreight to triple.
October 1, 2007... Boeing projects a tripling of the world air-cargo market with higher demand for wide-body freighters and much of the growth in the Asia-Pacific region. In an update of its 20-year market outlook, which was released on Sept. 19, the U.S....

Spoils of war.
October 8, 2007... There were 75 items on the list of planned and approved expenditures made public by the Department of Defense on Sept. 26, the same day we learned we need a paltry $150 billion to fix the nation's railroads over the next 30 years and the same...

Port crisis looms for California.
October 8, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo and Bill Armbruster The clean-trucks program proposed by the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach, compounded by an expected loss of drivers because of new federal port security restrictions, could send harbor trucking in...

Cold-chain link.
October 8, 2007... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson DHS sniffs ammonia danger in warehouses James Marrella, coordinator of compliance with and training on Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Environmental Protection Agency, is collecting the latitude...

Federal Maritime Commission sets new rules for OTIs.
October 8, 2007... Seeking a way to gain control of fly-by-night intermediaries, the Federal Maritime Commission issued final rules governing the financial wherewithal of applicants for ocean transportation intermediary licenses, and set up a system for online...

TSA, Coast Guard lower TWIC fee.
October 8, 2007... The Transportation Security Administration and Coast Guard have announced a $5 reduction in fees for persons obtaining a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. The agencies said that seaport and airport employees, drivers and...

Dengue fever killing in the Caribbean Basin, Mexico.
October 8, 2007... The Chinese government news agency is warning that the Costa Rican government has declared a state of emergency as dengue fever cases spread nationwide and beyond in the Caribbean. According to the report, which is similar to an Associated...

Port Georgialina receives congressional nod.
October 8, 2007... The $23 billion water resources bill passed by Congress that may or may not be vetoed by President Bush includes long-awaited funding for Florida port dredging projects but does not fund the proposed Georgia-South Carolina port at Jasper, Ga.,...

Crowley improves schedule integrity.
October 8, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp.'s liner services group is enhancing its Caribbean islands service by replacing older, smaller, slower vessels with two new container ships that are larger and faster. According to Rudy Leming, Crowley's vice president...

Limon and Moin ports prepare for modernization.
October 8, 2007... Costa Rica tourism agencies are publicizing a planned $600 million modernization of two Caribbean ports, Limon and Moin. They say the government hopes to solicit bids by May 2008 for a private company to rebuild and manage the ports. The...

China invites Latin America to trade fair.
October 8, 2007... China is planning a trade fair for commodities from Latin America and central and eastern Europe in Beijing, Nov. 22-24, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. "The fair will feature about 200 booths with a total area of 5,000...

Jamaican cement importers get a break.
October 8, 2007... Cement importers to Jamaica capitalizing on the critical local shortage will benefit from a reduction on the fee levied by the Port Authority of Jamaica to inspect each ton of the product. The fee will be reduced from $5 to $1 until March...

Jacksonville hosts export training program.
October 8, 2007... The Port of Jacksonville, and development groups in the area hope to prepare the local business community to take advantage of the port's promising future by hosting a selection and training program for businesses that want to start exporting....

Water projects bill passes.
October 8, 2007... The Senate approved the $20 billion Water Resources Development Act on Sept. 25 by an 81-12 vote, substantially more than the 67 votes needed to defeat a veto threatened by the president. In August, the House approved the $21 billion...

Port tunnel is a no vote.
October 8, 2007... The proposed $1 billion tunnel to the Port of Miami is on life support, relying on the compassion of Miami voters and the financial needs of its builders while the Miami city commission refuses to vote on the matter. With three...

FedEx, UPS, Miami Air land DOD contracts.
October 8, 2007... Federal Express Charter Programs Team Arrangement of Memphis, Tenn., is being awarded an estimated $1,071,854,903 firm fixed-price contract for international airlift services with a minimum guarantee of $158,493,329, according to a report for...

Rails not solution for Florida ports, shippers say.
October 8, 2007... BYLINE: John D. Boyd Each time the issues of capacity and congestion are raised in the discussion of Florida's container ports, on-dock rail and improved rail access are suggested as the solutions. But those shippers who have access to...

Rail needs: $148 billion.
October 8, 2007... The National Rail Freight Infrastructure Capacity and Investment Study has been released by Cambridge Systematics Inc. on behalf of the Association of American Railroads. The study was submitted to the National Surface Transportation Policy and...

Horizon Lines plans East Coast short-sea.
October 8, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Horizon Lines, the largest Jones Act liner operator, intends to start two short-sea shipping services among ports on the East or Gulf coasts in the first half of 2008 when it figures out what ports to call and which...

Miami's exports to Bahamas soar.
October 15, 2007... Exports of manufactured goods will play a critical role in the U.S. economy as it faces its slowest growth rate in five years, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. The annual Trade Numbers publication from World City...

Collateral damage.
October 15, 2007... In early October, the Zhen Hua 8, a Chinese heavy-lift crane transport vessel, was detained at the Port of Zeebrugge under investigation by the ITF and the Belgian Port State Control because the ITF wasn't happy with its hygiene standards and...

Starting to exhale.
October 15, 2007... BYLINE: Rick Eyerdam Building tide returns with new Bahamas government Perry Christie is the son of a cab driver from Nassau, Bahamas. He is the youngest member to ever sit on the Bahamian Parliament and, in the years before he became...

Bahamas at a glance.
October 15, 2007...   Official name Commonwealth of the Bahamas Geography Area: 5,382 square miles, slightly larger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Cities: Capital -- Nassau, New Providence. Second-largest city -- Freeport, Grand...

Other views: The Bahama Journal.
October 15, 2007... The Patronage Solution The national government feels that it has to sponsor national and local sports programs, take care of garbage collection, build straw markets, take care of all our social ills and even raise our children. In other...

Survey says: China's a challenge.
October 15, 2007... Member companies of the U.S.-China Business Council operating in China reported further market expansion in 2007 but continue to encounter difficulties finding qualified personnel, obtaining business licenses in many sectors, and enforcing...

Panama Canal sets records.
October 15, 2007... The Panama Canal broke one annual record and set two new single-day records, marking an important milestone that reflects the increasing global demand for its services, according to the Panama Canal Authority. The waterway surpassed its...

CSI expands in Caribbean Basin.
October 15, 2007... With the recent acceptance of the Panamanian ports of Colon and Manzanillo, the U.S. Container Security Initiative now includes seven ports in the Caribbean Basin. Located near the Atlantic entrance of the Panama Canal, the two new ports...

Horizon Lines containers arrive.
October 15, 2007... Horizon Lines took delivery of 1,200 new 45-foot shipping containers in October as part of an ongoing equipment investment program this year. Since the beginning of the year, Horizon has ordered 2,200 new dry containers, including the new...

Tropical Shipping sifts through stevedoring negotiations.
October 15, 2007... Tropical Shipping is sorting through negotiations with the government of Turks and Caicos concerning the government's plans to have Provo Stevedoring Ltd. handle all stevedoring operations in Providenciales as of October. The plan had not...

Jamaica sources cement for shortage.
October 15, 2007... The Caribbean Cement Co. received permission from the government of Jamaica to import and export cement from its pier at Rockfort, East Kingston, Karl Samuda, minister of industry, commerce and technology told the local papers. The...

Bahamas currency.
October 15, 2007... The Bahmian government maintains the value of the Bahamian dollar on a par with the U.S. dollar. The Bahamas is a beneficiary of the U.S.-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act, Canada's Caribcan program, and the European Union's Lome IV...

Bahamas industry.
October 15, 2007... The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm PFC Bahamas (formerly Syntex); the Borco oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces...

Hawksbill Creek Agreement.
October 15, 2007... The Hawksbill Creek Agreement established a duty-free zone in Freeport, the Bahamas' second-largest city, with a nearby industrial park to encourage foreign industrial investment. Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa has opened a container port in...

Business information.
October 15, 2007... The U.S. State Department's Consular Information Program provides consular information sheets, travel warnings and public announcements. The Affairs Tips for Travelers publication series, which contains information on obtaining passports and...

US approves China flights.
October 15, 2007... Under an aviation agreement signed earlier this year, the Department of Transportation approved six new U.S.-China flights. Delta Air Lines was awarded a direct route from Atlanta to Shanghai, making it the first carrier to fly that route....

UPS, Teamsters reach agreement.
October 15, 2007... The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and UPS have reached a tentative agreement on a five-year contract covering 240,000 parcel workers at the company. The pact came 10 months before the expiration of the existing contract. If...

Logistics assets set sail.(Company overview)
October 15, 2007... BYLINE: Paul Page  Lines blur between transportation and services When Horizon Lines recently carved out its nascent logistics operation into a separate business division, the ocean container line set sail into waters that are...

Port Everglades: a $17 billion engine.
October 15, 2007... Broward County's Port Everglades department generates approximately $17 billion worth of business activity and approximately 188,000 jobs statewide, according to a new study by maritime research company Martin Associates. Port Everglades...

Orlando paper peeks at Disney.
October 15, 2007... Disney Cruise Lines, which is nearing the end of its initial 10-year contract with Port Canaveral, is pressing the port to reduce its guaranteed fees by hinting it might cut and run. E-mails between Disney and port executives were secured...

Government officials support connector road at Port Manatee.
October 15, 2007... Port Manatee won support from U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters for an east-west connector road that would directly link the port with Interstate 75. In a visit to the port last month, Peters said the road is essential for the port's...

Nominate your leading lady.
October 22, 2007... It is time again to ask our readers to nominate women members of our industry for the edition I have been calling Leading Ladies in Florida Transportation. Our previous honorees are encouraged to complete the cycle and the rest of you are also...

Dim days: Puerto Rico's woes continue.
October 22, 2007... The news for carriers from Puerto Rico is mostly bad and the carriers in the trade have responded with resilience, restructuring, reallocating resources and expanding beyond San Juan into the Eastern Caribbean. Things are looking pretty...

Puerto Rico maritime overview.
October 22, 2007... The Puerto Rico Ports Authority is the owner and administrator of all maritime facilities on the island, which include the ports of San Juan, Guanica, Guayanilla, Guayama, Yabucoa, Arecibo, Fajardo, Vieques and Culebra. The Port of San...

Shippers seek changes in LA clean-truck program.
October 22, 2007... A coalition of 34 shipper organizations and freight intermediaries whose members conduct business at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach asked the mayors and harbor commissioners in the two cities to revamp the proposed clean-truck program...

EU unveils integrated maritime policy.
October 22, 2007... The European Union, has begun consideration of a unified and integrated maritime policy that includes the elimination of Customs. "Customs has simplified things, but cargo traveling between EU ports still goes through a lot of...

Costa Rica not ready for prime trade.
October 22, 2007... Supporters of the Central America Free Trade Agreement in Costa Rica scored a 51.6 percent majority to become the last partner to ratify the terms of the agreement. But there is much to do before free trade can begin. The Costa Rica...

Crowley has new agent in St. Thomas.
October 22, 2007... Nesbitt Trucking in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, will represent Crowley's non-vessel-operating common carrier customers as its local logistics agent as of Oct. 15, the company announced. Nesbitt will provide Crowley's logistics...

GAC, Alstons form alliance.
October 22, 2007... GAC has signed an alliance agreement with Alstons Shipping, completing GAC's coverage of all ports in the region of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. Tom Nasman, regional director for GAC Americas, said the GAC-Alstons alliance was a...

Dominican Republic signs UN convention.
October 22, 2007... The Dominican Republic has standardized its legal system regarding shippers, carriers and intermediaries, effective this month, by acceding to the 1978 United Nations convention on the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, also called the Hamburg...

Drug-resistance bacteria spreads in Puerto Rico.
October 22, 2007... A dangerous gene that allows bacteria to resist a powerful class of drugs has been found in new strains of germs in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Midwest, South America and other regions, scientists recently told the Bloomberg news organization. ...

Holsum de Puerto Rico wins store auction.
October 22, 2007... Holsum de Puerto Rico Inc. has won the auction for 14 stores and a distribution center owned by bankrupt Caribbean grocery operator Nutritional Sourcing Inc. with an offer of $139 million, according to papers filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court...

Lakeland chamber wants Puerto Rico links.
October 22, 2007... A new Polk County Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce was formed in September in Lakeland, Fla. The organization, which focuses on promoting Hispanic businesses, is working to create a marketing plan between the U.S. island territory and...

St. Jude Medical expanding.
October 22, 2007... St. Jude Medical Inc. announced in New York last month that it will expand its operations in Puerto Rico by 30 percent and add up to 1,200 new jobs within the next three years. The medical device company also said it recently bought a...

Seafarers' House and G&G send Hurricane Felix relief.
October 22, 2007... In response to Hurricane Felix, a storm that wreaked havoc in areas of Nicaragua and Honduras in September, Seafarers' House, a multifaith ministry in Port Everglades, Fla., combined efforts with G&G Shipping, a local shipping company with crew...

Forwarder antitrust probe goes global.
October 22, 2007... A multinational investigation of freight forwarders' business practices continues to widen following the surprise inspections of forwarders' offices in several countries. Officials of the European Union, the U.S., Switzerland and Canada...

Puerto Rico Shipping Association elects new directors.
October 22, 2007... The Puerto Rico Shipping Association selected a new board of directors on Oct. 4. Hernan F. Ayala Rubio, vice president of operations for Luis A. Ayala Colon Scrs. Inc., was elected president. Jose F. Nazario, finance director of Crowley...

Demeroutis joins Crowley as director, labor relations.
October 22, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp. has retained Steve Demeroutis as director, labor relations. He is domiciled in Jacksonville and reports to Jerry Dowd, vice president of labor relations, in Seattle. Demeroutis is responsible for all labor relations...

Pacer International consolidates leadership.
October 22, 2007... Pacer International Inc., a North American third-party logistics and freight transportation provider, has promoted Adriene Bailey to executive vice president, strategy and organizational development. Reporting to Michael Uremovich, Pacer's...

Customs advises on new procedures.
October 22, 2007... The U.S. Customs and Border Protection office in Miami is reminding the importing public that all informal entries of Food and Drug Administration-regulated products must be submitted on U.S. Customs and Border Protection Form 3461, effective...

Exam station reopens at Port of Miami.
October 22, 2007... Customs announced that the tentative selection of Customs Inspection Processing Services Inc. as a centralized examination station operator has become final. Trade community members who select CIPS for examination of cargo shipments may begin...

C-TPAT and empties.
October 22, 2007... Customs is advising ocean carriers in the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism program that they are responsible for visually inspecting the interior of empty containers bound for the U.S. at the foreign load port.

The Louisiana example.
October 29, 2007... Florida's 13 deep-water ports are in a difficult position competing for business among themselves on the peninsula and along the Gulf while also competing with the state port authorities in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Imagine what...

Customs declares.
October 29, 2007... Now comes the hard part Remember October 2001, when citizens of the United States stood shoulder to shoulder in support of whatever it would take to defeat the terrorists who were out to destroy our way of life. Trucks backed up at the...

Customs update: Reality checks.
October 29, 2007... BYLINE: Susan Kohn Ross In yet another effort to make the American public feel safer, the Democratic-led Congress recently enacted legislation that approves 100 percent scanning of all cargo -- ocean and air. While H.R. 1 has been...

Customs issues dominate Wesccon.
October 29, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Importers and customs brokers have been encouraged to prepare for the roll-out of Customs and Border Protection's long-awaited information system known as ACE, the Automated Commercial Environment. The system,...

Bill seek to cut agriculture inspectors from DHS.
October 29, 2007... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson In April 2004, a Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialist in the mail center at the San Francisco International Airport opened a package marked "books and chocolates" and found tree cuttings contaminated...