Gulf Shipper articles from December 2006

Gulf Shipper archives from December 2006

The need for speed: USPS growth in overnight services is no boost for commercial airlines.
December 4, 2006... BYLINE: Ian Putzger It wasn't so long ago that growth in postal business was something the integrated express carriers feared - and even fought. The United States Postal Service has seen a resurgence in its premium parcel services, Express...

What's good for the goose.
December 4, 2006... Record revenue and volume helped the U.S. Postal Service conclude its 2006 fiscal year - which ended Sept. 30 - with net income of $900 million on total revenue of $72.8 billion. That's a far cry from the dark days of the 1960s when the federal...

Trade credit insurance protects seller.
December 4, 2006... BYLINE: Rosalind McLymont Southwest Windpower Inc. may be committed to the ideal of providing "low-cost, reliable, renewable energy technologies" to developing countries, but when it comes to selling the technologies to those countries,...

PWC Logistics takes on new name.
December 4, 2006... PWC Logistics, which has been gobbling up smaller transportation services companies in recent years, has switched to a new name, which will be extended throughout its group of subsidiary companies in phases during the next two years. With...

Safmarine upgrades service.
December 4, 2006... Safmarine, a division of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group offering container and breakbulk shipping services to more than 130 countries, has enhanced two of its South Africa-North America shipping services. The America Express Service between...

Hazmat containers pose danger to crews.
December 4, 2006... Nearly a third of all seagoing containers loaded with hazardous cargo are not in compliance with international safety rules, which experts say jeopardizes the safe passage of ships and cargo, and puts ship crews in danger. According to an...

Port of New Orleans names commissioners.
December 4, 2006... Conrad Appel III has been elected chairman of the Port of New Orleans Board of Commissioners. Appel is the founder and president of Construction South Inc., a general construction and contracting firm. Appel will serve a nine-month term as...

Ports of Galveston and Houston partner to build new terminal.
December 4, 2006... After years of acrimony, the Port of Galveston has agreed to sever its Pier 10 terminal lease with the Port of Houston. Instead, the ports will develop a container terminal on a 1,200-acre site on Pelican Island. The ports plan to jointly...

New Orleans pilots seek higher fees.
December 4, 2006... The Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of New Orleans want the state commission that oversees the industry to increase fees charged foreign-flag vessels that move along the lower Mississippi River. The pilots who steer commercial ships...

Port of New Orleans receives insurance payment.
December 4, 2006... The Port of New Orleans has received the remaining $3.2 million of a $20 million property insurance policy from Lexington Insurance Co. Lexington, the Boston-based subsidiary of American International Group Inc., had exceeded the state...

Nagin, LaGrange sign riverfront agreement.
December 4, 2006... The city and port of New Orleans recently signed an agreement that turns over to the city a four-mile stretch of riverfront that has been in port hands for more than two centuries. The agreement, signed by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and...

New Orleans is No. 1 for business relocation.
December 4, 2006... New Orleans ranked No. 1 as an attractive city for business relocation among 40 metropolitan markets. The city of New Orleans - which usually ranks among the top 15 - ranked above Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Albuquerque, Houston, Baltimore and...

10+2 + more paperwork.
December 11, 2006... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson Customs asks importers, carriers for more data After more than two years of discussions with the trade community, Customs and Border Protection is moving forward on a plan to collect additional data on imports to...

What's 10+2?
December 11, 2006... Data from importers-shippers:  1. Manufacturer name and address.  2. Seller name and address.  3. Container stuffing location.  4. Consolidator name and address.  5. Buyer name and address. ...

Doozy of a deal.
December 11, 2006... The sale of the U.S. assets of P&O Ports became more convoluted last month with the revelation that the chairman of high-profile suitor CMA CGM may be at odds with Egyptian law. The sale already has enough surreal trappings to confuse even...

Shippers fear trade disruptions.
December 11, 2006... BYLINE: Rosalind McLymont Hallock Northcott, president and chief executive of the American Association of Exporters and Importers, is a worried man. On Nov. 17, he sent an urgent letter to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab,...

SSAM terminal implements Tideworks' software.
December 11, 2006... Mexican terminal operator SSAM has begun utilizing Tideworks Technology's container terminal management software for operations and planning. Tideworks Technology Inc., a software provider for terminal operations and shipping lines worldwide,...

Intermarine debuts intra-Asia service.
December 11, 2006... Intermarine recently launched an on-demand, heavy- lift, intra-Asia service to meet rising demand in the region for project cargo. The Far East, Indian and Persian Gulf service stretches along the Asian coast from Japan, Korea and China in the...

Industrial Destiny joins Intermarine fleet.
December 11, 2006... The Industrial Destiny, the second of six new heavy-lift ships joining the Intermarine fleet, made its inaugural call last week at the Port of Houston. Built by Portugese shipyard ENVC, the Industrial Destiny's inaugural voyage carried...

Maine Maritime Academy honors three alumni.
December 11, 2006... The Maine Maritime Academy honored three college alumni at its annual Celebration of Achievement in Castine, Maine. Alumni Capt. Stephen Dick, Samuel Collins, and Capt. Deborah Doane Dempsey were inducted into the college's Wall of Honor....

Baton Rouge Port Commission installs officers.
December 11, 2006... The Baton Rouge Port Commission recently approved a three-year contract for Jay Hardman, port executive director. Following the ouster of Roger Richard last summer, Hardman had been serving under a six-month trial contract. The port...

Port of Houston receives EPA recognition.
December 11, 2006... The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the Port of Houston Authority for renewing its commitment to environmentally beneficial practices. As the first and only port in the nation to achieve recognition in EPA's Performance...

Port of Houston turns to wind.
December 11, 2006... Building on its goal of setting new standards for environmental stewardship, the Port of Houston is adding wind energy to its electric supply. As part of the three-year agreement for retail electric service between Direct Energy and the...

Pascagoula will collect taxes on terminal during construction.
December 11, 2006... The Port of Pascagoula and Jackson County have clinched a deal with Gulf LNG that will generate money during construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal. Port officials and county supervisors recently signed a lease that will bring in...

When security costs climb.
December 11, 2006... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson NIT League designing software to calculate costs A chronic problem for shippers since Sept. 11 has been calculating the added costs to the supply chain resulting from initiatives such as the 24-Hour Rule and the...

Barge business booming.
December 11, 2006... 2006 barge construction up 157 percent Heavy demand for barge transport and the retiring of older barges is resulting in peak demand for barge construction nationwide. "There's a boom in barge construction," said Sandor Toth, publisher...

The 'can-do' port: Port Freeport lays ground for diverse cargo future.
December 18, 2006... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Port Freeport recently kicked off its first major terminal development since the 1960s with a groundbreaking ceremony for Berth 7. The new berth is the first phase of a larger project named Velasco Terminal. At...

A golden Texas coast.
December 18, 2006... The central Texas Gulf Coast is enjoying an economic boom that's spawning new container terminals in area ports. Earlier this month, CMA CGM's Orca steamed through the Houston Ship Channel in a trial run to the Port of Houston's $2 billion...

Gulf Shipper parent acquires OAG holding.
December 18, 2006... United Business Media has acquired OAG Holdings for 2.5 million pounds ($4.9 million), on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary, Common-wealth Business Media, the Newark, N.J.-based publisher of Gulf Shipper. Based in Dunstable, U.K., OAG...

Three airlines see cargo increase.
December 18, 2006... Three major airlines reported increases in belly cargo in November. Air cargo traffic at American Airlines rose 1.1 percent while capacity fell 3.7 percent. Total air-cargo revenue ton miles, known as RTMs, climbed 1.9 percent to 192.8 million...

DHL raises rates.
December 18, 2006... BYLINE: John D. Boyd DHL Express waited in the wings this year until FedEx Express and UPS announced 2007 rate hikes. Once the new rates were public, DHL carefully positioned itself in the middle with a rate hike of its own. DHL's 3.9...

Asian imports shift trade flow.
December 18, 2006... The 225-member River of Trade Corridor Coalition recently held its quarterly meeting in Memphis, Tenn., to discuss the region's role in supply-chain management. The coalition formed in 2004 to protect, maximize and expand commerce and the...

Agility adapts to manage risk.(Company overview)
December 18, 2006... BYLINE: William Hoffman Some of the many terminals that PWC Logistics set up across the Middle East have a feature visitors won't find in many distribution centers around the world: framed photographs of former employees who have died in...

Intermarine christens two ships.
December 18, 2006... The Industrial Diamond and Industrial Destiny were recently christened at the ENVC Shipyard in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. Owned by the Juengerhans Group of Germany, the vessels are the first two of six new vessels scheduled to join the...

Mobile approves ISC incentive package.
December 18, 2006... International Shipholding Corp. is receiving $4 million in cash incentive grants from three government entities for relocating its corporate headquarters to Mobile, Ala. The Mobile City Council recently approved a $1 million grant, while...

Horizon names two board members.
December 18, 2006... Horizon Lines Inc. has appointed William Flynn and James Down to the board of directors, bringing the total number of directors to 11. Flynn, 53, is president and chief executive of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings. This publicly traded...

KCS reorganizes legal arm.
December 18, 2006... Kansas City Southern has reorganized its international legal department. It has named William Wochner as interim general counsel. Wochner is responsible for the legal, claims and corporate secretary functions for KCS and its U.S. subsidiaries,...

LME-approved plastics warehouse opens in Baton Rouge.
December 18, 2006... Hurricane Katrina delayed its opening by more than a year, but a Belgian 3PL has finally begun operating a plastics repacking and storage warehouse at the Port of Baton Rouge. As an approved London Metals Exchange warehouse, the Katoen...

Moyes loses Swift bid.
December 18, 2006... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Jerry Moyes scored one goal last month and came close to another - and there's still time on the clock. Moyes finally completed his $28.85 million buyout of Central Freight Lines on Nov. 27, the same day the...

Sea Star promotes IT personnel.
December 18, 2006... Sea Star Line has appointed Doni Perry as assistant vice president and chief information officer. JoAnn Norquist will fill his vacated position. In his new role, Doni is responsible for the entire information technology function and will serve...

New Far East steel service to start in 2007.
December 25, 2006... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Saga Forest Carriers plans calls at Gulf ports A new service from Saga Forest Carriers is scheduled to begin carrying steel from the Far East into the Gulf and to the East Coast in early 2007. Two vessels from...

The road ahead.
December 25, 2006... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Moderate, slower global trade growth predicted for 2007 While it is often said that the world is getting smaller, in many respects it remains a big and complicated place, especially when trying to make sense on...

Shenzhen TEUs bypass Hong Kong.
December 25, 2006... On mainland China, Shenzhen has bypassed Hong Kong as the busiest container port after Singapore, which still holds the global lead, according to a report in the Hong Kong Standard. During the first nine months of the year, Hong Kong...

A giving spirit.
December 25, 2006... Holiday festivities are not complete without taking some time to count our blessings. The central Gulf Coast is making agonizingly slow progress in its recovery, while neighbors to the east in Mobile and west in Houston are awash in the...

Supply-Chain Council expands course offerings.
December 25, 2006... Of all global manufacturing companies, 52 percent have less than two-years' experience in supply-chain manufacturing, according to AMR Research. To help fill the knowledge gap, the Supply-Chain Council has initiated several worldwide programs...

TNT Logistics unveils new name.
December 25, 2006... TNT Logistics has changed its name to CEVA Logistics. The logistics and supply-chain management company, which is based in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, has begun doing business under the new brand across 26 countries. CEVA has reported revenue of...

UPS trims logistics jobs.
December 25, 2006... UPS has offered voluntary severance packages to 650 employees at its headquarters and its U.S.-based Supply Chain Solutions facilities, the Memphis Business Journal reported. A UPS spokesman said workers must be 50 years old or have 10...

SRI International plans research facility.
December 25, 2006... SRI International has chosen St. Petersburg, Fla., as the site for a marine technology research facility expected to begin operations by Jan. 1. The new facility, called SRI-St. Petersburg, is expected to accelerate research and the development...

Goodyear honors APL in Latin America.
December 25, 2006... Goodyear has named APL as its outstanding shipping line in Latin America. Eduardo Fortunato, president of Goodyear Latin America, recently presented an award to APL at his company's regional summit meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Goodyear...

Year-on-year gains predicted for container activity.
December 25, 2006... Traffic at major U.S. retail container ports is slowing down for the winter after a record peak season but will continue to show increases over 2005. This prediction was released in the December Port Tracker report of the National Retail...

Freeport channel project generates discussion.
December 25, 2006... Members of the public have until Jan. 9 to submit comments to the Army Corps of Engineers, which is considering an application from Port Freeport to widen its ship channel. A public hearing was held earlier this month on the application....

Pricey terminals.
December 25, 2006... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach and R.G. Edmonson  Investment funds spike box terminal prices In the recent game of North American port asset sales, the score is: port operators, 0; investment funds, 4. The recent announcement that DP...