Gulf Shipper articles from February 2008

Gulf Shipper archives from February 2008

Clashing in Gulfport.
February 4, 2008... When the U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary recently approved Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's plan to give the Port of Gulfport $600 million in grants earmarked to rebuild housing, he said states have the right to use the grants as...

Gulfport's business recovering.
February 4, 2008... BYLINE: Paul T. Rosynsky Expansion plan, funding under fire In the more than two years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Port of Gulfport, wiping out key infrastructure and chasing away customers, the port has led a steady effort...

Bush reinstates security funds.
February 4, 2008... This month, the White House will request $2.2 billion, not $1.4 billion, to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, an administration aide told Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., last month. That would be 10 percent more than...

Transportation plan receives support.
February 4, 2008... Funding for transportation infrastructure may find its way into an economic stimulus package being crafted on Capitol Hill, if House transportation leaders have their way. Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee James...

Rewrapping shipping costs.
February 4, 2008... BYLINE: William Hoffman Shippers are thinking inside, outside and all around the box as they try to cut shipping costs. In particular, Wal-Mart's packaging reduction initiative and the introduction of dimensional pricing by parcel...

Economist predicts growth at southern US box ports.
February 4, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo The U.S. container trade will return to more normal growth patterns over the next two years, with ports in the Southeast and Southwest benefiting most from the increased trade. The container trade is influenced...

Wurschy joins Freeport team.
February 4, 2008... Peter Wurschy recently accepted the position of trade development representative for Port Freeport. He is the Houston-based sales representative for the port, responsible for calling customs brokers, freight forwarders, shippers, agents and...

Agility expands presence in East Africa.
February 4, 2008... Global logistics provider Agility has agreed to buy Nairobi, Kenya-based Starfreight Logistics Ltd. Starfreight is a customs clearance and freight forwarding firm that specializes in the procurement and clearing of goods and machinery into...

Ports America Group formed.
February 4, 2008... AIG Highstar Capital, owner of Ports America Inc., MTC Holdings and Amports Inc., announced it will combine the management of Ports America and MTC into a single management team for the enterprise. Amports will operate as a division of the...

New stevedoring venture to service Mississippi.
February 4, 2008... American River Transportation Co. and St. James Stevedoring Co. announced the formation of a stevedoring joint venture that will be headquartered in Convent, La. The new venture will operate under the name St. James Stevedoring Partners LLC and...

Maersk introduces new BAF formula.
February 4, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Maersk Line introduced a new formula for its bunker adjustment factor that it said is designed to provide more simplicity and transparency in the way it applies the BAF. The Danish carrier said it built the new...

BBC Andino Express Line to boost surcharges.
February 4, 2008... Because of increased bunker and operating costs, BBC Andino Express Line will increase surcharges on Feb. 15. The increases will apply to all southbound and northbound shipments to and from U.S. Gulf ports, the Mexican ports of Veracruz,...

MSC commits to New Orleans.
February 4, 2008... Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Ceres Terminals announced their partnership in a new joint venture, New Orleans Terminals, at a gala reception and dinner held in New Orleans late last month. Capt. Pasquale Formisano, founder of the company and a...

Rough waters roil Seattle waterfront.
February 4, 2008... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto The Port of Seattle faces a state performance audit that alleged questionable, costly and potentially criminal management of port contracting since 2004. In addition, Japanese carriers MOL and NYK are moving to...

New cranes on way to Mobile.
February 4, 2008... Mobile Container Terminal's first two cranes left Shanghai, China, for Mobile, Ala., in January. The cranes are scheduled to arrive in mid-March, and MCT is scheduled to open in September. Also onboard are stackers-reclaimers for the port's...

Second Bayport wharf approved.
February 4, 2008... The Port of Houston's second Bayport Container Terminal wharf will soon be under construction. The port commission has approved the first steps, advertising for proposals for up to $74 million. The project will include about 1,330 feet of...

Good enough.
February 11, 2008... During the recent 2008 World Economic Summit at Davos, Switzerland, the BBC reporter who covered the summit interviewed a host of chief executives for their take on what's in store for the global economy this year. Top dogs at Cantor...

Unlocking value:.
February 11, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Ports and shipowners test the market Step by tentative step, public ports, container ship owners and container lessors are moving to cash in on the rising demand for their assets. They're seeking outside...

Private expertise plays role in cold-storage infrastructure.
February 11, 2008... BYLINE: Louis Perez Thirty years ago, ports were the least-known component in the shipping matrix. Words and phrases such as "intermodal," "paradigm shift" and "tipping points" were not part of the transportation vocabulary. Today, the...

Longtime Crowley employee Dick Simpson dies.
February 11, 2008... Richard A. "Dick" Simpson, 71, a longtime transportation executive and former vice president of Crowley Maritime Corp., died on Jan. 27 in Jacksonville, Fla., following a long illness. Mr. Simpson joined Crowley in 1977, built the company's...

Schindler joins Intermarine.
February 11, 2008... Beau Schindler has rejoined the Intermarine team in New Orleans as projects manager for South America. Schindler will concentrate primarily on chartering and project activities for the east coast South America service, where Intermarine offers...

National Waterways Conference appoints Larson president.
February 11, 2008... Amy W. Larson has been named president of the National Waterways Conference. Larson, whose term begins on March 1, has served as general counsel to the Federal Maritime Commission in Washington, D.C., since 2004. The Arlington, Va.-based...

Intermarine takes delivery of sixth new vessel.
February 11, 2008... Intermarine's sixth new heavy-lift ship, the Industrial Dart, was delivered from ENVC shipyard in Portugal last month. The ship was immediately sent to Aviles, Spain, where it was loaded with wind-power-generation components for Pennsylvania....

Seabulk Towing christens two tugs.
February 11, 2008... Seabulk Towing christened the Buccaneer and Gasparilla tugs during a double ceremony at the Port of Tampa late last month. Designed by Jensen Maritime Consultants Inc., and built by Eastern Shipbuilding of Panama City, Fla., the boats are each...

A.P. Moller-Maersk takes stake in Hoegh Autoliners.
February 11, 2008... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach A.P. Moller-Maersk, parent of Maersk Line, has acquired a 37.5 percent stake in Norwegian vehicle carrier Hoegh Autoliners under an agreement announced by the two companies at the end of January. No financial...

Commission calls for transport policy overhaul.
February 11, 2008... A blue-ribbon commission has recommended that the U.S. completely overhaul federal spending for surface transportation policy and called for a significant increase in revenue to pay for transportation infrastructure. The National Surface...

Panama Canal expansion predicted to change Gulf trade.
February 11, 2008... The $5 billion expansion of the Panama Canal's locks, which should be completed in 2014, will mean vessels capable of carrying as many as 12,000 TEUs will be added to Asia-Gulf and Asia-Atlantic trade lanes. Ports that want to attract these...

Executives ask Congress for help.
February 11, 2008... Small and midsize manufacturing companies have asked Congress to ensure that any legislation to strengthen U.S. trade laws would help them compete in the global marketplace. In a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.,...

Shippers associations look to control costs.
February 11, 2008... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Shippers associations usually busy themselves with negotiating contracts and providing logistics services. But for many associations, the events that dominate their work will be beyond their control. Shippers...

Grand Alliance, Zim to upgrade ATX service.
February 15, 2008... Four container lines are teaming up to increase capacity on a joint service between North Europe and the U.S. East Coast. Three Grand Alliance members -- Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, Orient Overseas Container Line -- and Zim Integrated Shipping...

Catching a cold?
February 18, 2008... The numbers are in for China's 2007 economy, and the results are pretty much double-digit across the board. So with the U.S. sneezing, will China catch a cold? China's gross domestic product last year rose 11.4 percent; it's the fifth...

WGMA an advocate for members.
February 18, 2008... BYLINE: Janet Nodar New 'stakeholders' category expands association When Niels Aalund joined the West Gulf Maritime Association as vice president of maritime affairs in late 2005, he launched a daily industry update of briefs that...

ITMA's membership doubles.
February 18, 2008... BYLINE: Janet Nodar  Logistics education sparks interest The International Transportation Management Association doubled its membership in 2007 and appears to have mastered the art of giving Houston-area logistics professionals...

Lenny Corallo named president of PIERS.
February 18, 2008... Commonwealth Business Media promoted Lenny Corallo to the position of president and chief operating officer of PIERS Global Intelligence Solutions. Corallo has served since 1995 as executive vice president of PIERS, where he has had the...

Ceres Terminals promotes two.
February 18, 2008... Ceres Terminals Inc., subsidiary of the NYK Group, named two of the company's veterans to vice president posts, effective Feb. 1. Steve Crouch serves as vice president of environment, safety and security. Brad Ziegler was appointed vice...

China surpasses US as Japan's top trade partner.
February 18, 2008... China surpassed the U.S. as Japan's largest trading partner for the first time on a calendar-year basis in 2007, with bilateral trade reaching nearly 28 trillion yen, according to preliminary figures released by the Finance Ministry on Jan. 24....

New China-US trade opportunities emerge.
February 18, 2008... BYLINE: John Gallagher China's trucking industry is at a crossroads and is looking to the U.S. for guidance. Top trucking officials from both countries met near Washington recently to discuss how to meet growing demand for long-distance...

Poultry exporter to stay at Port of New Orleans.
February 18, 2008... The Port of New Orleans Dock Board approved an engineering contract that covers the development of a new facility for longtime tenant New Orleans Cold Storage. The exporter of frozen poultry has been operating at a site on the Industrial...

Grand Alliance, Zim to upgrade ATX service.
February 18, 2008... Four container lines are teaming up to increase capacity on a joint service between North Europe and the U.S. East Coast. Three Grand Alliance members -- Hapag-Lloyd, NYK, Orient Overseas Container Line -- and Zim Integrated Shipping...

BBC merges US operations.
February 18, 2008... BBC Chartering & Logistic and BBC (USA) announced they will consolidate their U.S. operations under the management of BBC Chartering & Logistic, based in Leer, Germany. Rider Griswold, former president of Houston-based BBC (USA), will take the...

Houston's international air cargo increases.
February 18, 2008... The Houston Airport System handled about 426,600 tons of domestic and international air cargo last year, up 5.4 percent from 2006. International air cargo traffic also grew 3.5 percent during the year. The Houston Airport System includes...

EU ambassador calls for common sense on food safety issues.
February 18, 2008... The European Union and the U.S. should pool resources as much as possible to ensure that consumers in both markets get the safest and highest-quality food and that taxpayer dollars and euros are used cost-effectively, said John Bruton, the EU...

Importers fear higher costs from 10+2.
February 18, 2008... Bringing goods into the country could become more costly once the 10+2 rule proposed by Customs and Border Protection goes into effect. The proposed rule made its debut in the Federal Register on Jan. 2. It requires importers to provide 10...

Mining mergers.
February 25, 2008... This week's Gulf Shipper special report on steel examines the ups and downs of this volatile industry, which in large part is driven by the equally volatile raw materials and ore industries. There has been ongoing angst in Asia over the...

Steel imports slump; exports increase.
February 25, 2008... BYLINE: JANET NODAR Cycle may be poised to turn upward Dreary import numbers may mask some positive cyclical signs for the steel business, according to David Phelps, president of the American Institute for International Steel. That...

Louisiana ports lobby for stable funding.
February 25, 2008... The Ports Association of Louisiana is hoping for a long-term funding commitment from the state of Louisiana. "We are lobbying for $100 million annually for the next five years. We need a recurring, significant amount annually that we can count...

SeaBridge Freight to call at Manatee, Brownsville.
February 25, 2008... SeaBridge Freight announced that its new cross-Gulf marine highway operation will call at Port Manatee, Fla., and the Port of Brownsville, Texas. The service will commence by late spring with one tug and 600-TEU barge with a barge-mounted...

'K' Line profit rockets.(Financial report)
February 25, 2008... On Jan. 31, "K" Line reported consolidated operating income surged to nearly 100.7 billion yen ($950 million) in the April-December 2007 period, up 153.5 percent from the year-earlier period. In an earnings statement, Japan's third-largest...

Panama Canal Authority to boost handling fees.
February 25, 2008... Rising fuel costs led the Panama Canal Authority to revise fees for tug, locomotive and line-handling services, effective March 1. Rates for tug services will increase 8 percent; rates for line-handling services will rise 7 percent; and a...

Maersk Line drops dollar for euro in some services.
February 25, 2008... Maersk Line is switching the tariff currency for its services between Europe and Oceania from the dollar to the euro as of April 1. In announcing the move, the Danish carrier cited the volatility of the dollar at a time when an increasingly...

Developer buys 160 acres near Port of Houston.
February 25, 2008... Commercial developer Duke Realty Corp. has acquired more than 160 acres of land near the Port of Houston and plans to spend $140 million developing up to 2.9 million square feet of industrial space there, according to Commercial Property News....

GAO questions efficacy of Cuba trade embargo.
February 25, 2008... The U.S. trade embargo of Cuba is diverting government resources from implementing sanctions against other nations, including Iran, and preventing potential terrorists from entering the country, according to a report issued in December by the...

Port Tracker expects February imports to decline.
February 25, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO As U.S. consumers continue to cut back on spending and retailers reduce their orders, February will probably be the seventh consecutive month to show a decline in containerized imports from the previous year,...

Peters: Freight transportation in the national interest.
February 25, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. EDMONSON Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this month that freight transportation is a matter of national interest that should be kept in the purview of the federal...

AAPA 'disappointed' with Bush security, dredging budget cuts.
February 25, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER The American Association of Port Authorities said it is disappointed that President Bush has proposed another annual budget that would significantly underfund the Department of Homeland Security's Port Security...

Corps seeks $4.74B budget.
February 25, 2008... BYLINE: R.G. EDMONSON Nearly half of the proposed budget covering civil works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would go to operations and maintenance dredging, and another third would be spent on new construction if Congress approves...