Gulf Shipper articles from January 2009

Gulf Shipper archives from January 2009

The future of capitalism?
January 5, 2009... As the global recession spreads far and wide, we read new stories every day of nations being impacted. From Europe and Russia to South Africa, Asia and the Middle East, no economy appears to be untouched by the financial slump. Even the...

Ready to talk.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: JOSEPH BONNEY ILA, USMX prepare for an early start to contract negotiations When the International Longshoremen's Association and waterfront management sit down in February to open negotiations on a new contract for Gulf and...

Desperate times at YRC.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: JOHN GALLAGHER Teamsters union agrees to wage cuts to help struggling trucking giant YRC Worldwide and the Teamsters union claim their agreement to cut wages for some 40,000 employees will protect jobs, but how far those...

Commerce guide focuses on export fundamentals.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: DOUG BARRY The U.S. Department of Commerce has published an updated edition of a book that seeks to help U.S. exporters, whether they are new to the business or experienced exporters. "A Basic Guide to Exporting" is a...

China loses WTO appeal.
January 5, 2009... The Appellate Body of the World Trade Organi-zation confirmed that a Chinese tax measure on imported auto parts violates the trade body's rules. In its decision, the WTO's top court largely upheld a panel ruling in July that backed...

Australia's Babcock & Brown may sell terminal assets.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: RICK EYERDAM Troubled Australian investor Babcock & Brown, which owns stakes in maritime facilities from the United States to Italy and Finland, is reportedly mulling assets sales as it copes with the effects of the global economic...

Houston approves contracts, readies for TWIC activation.
January 5, 2009... During its December meeting, the Port Commission of The Port of Houston Authority approved a $5 million multiyear service contract supporting its Houston Ship Channel and beneficial use sites work. The contract was awarded to TCB...

Shuttered since 1997, Port St. Joe plans revival.
January 5, 2009... The Port St. Joe Port Authority announced in a statement that it has made a 41-year lease agreement with The Joe Co., a publicly held land development company, to lease a 63-acre site on St. Joseph Bay, Fla. The port will combine this property...

Harbor Master Capt. Dave Carey to retire.
January 5, 2009... After 17 years as the Alabama State Port Authority's Harbor Master, Capt. Dave Carey is retiring. Carey's career at Mobile included riding out Hurricane Katrina and dealing with the tragic 1993 derailing of the Amtrak Sunset Ltd. in Bayou...

Getman elected Manatee County Port Authority chair.
January 5, 2009... A six-year veteran of the Manatee County Port Authority, Ron Getman, was elected 2009 chairman this month. Getman has served in numerous positions since joining the board. MCPA members serve four-year staggered terms with annual election...

Collapsible container could transform cargo trade.
January 5, 2009... BYLINE: KATHLYN HORIBE Ocean carriers spend $16 billion annually on repositioning emptiesA collapsible container designed by two professors from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, India, could revolutionize the marine cargo...

Eight days and counting.
January 12, 2009... In little more than a week when President-elect Barack Obama takes office, the world will be waiting for his first actions aimed at fixing an economy mired in recession. The new administration will need to move swiftly and boldly to jolt...

U.S. Gulf-Africa trade expected to slow.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: DAVID BIEDERMAN Falling commodity prices, currency values, tight credit among challenges The breakbulk and project-cargo industry that operates between the U.S. Gulf Coast and West and southern Africa is bracing for a tough...

Port of Houston Authority names Smith new police chief.
January 12, 2009... Veteran law enforcement officer Mark Smith has been named the Port of Houston Authority's new police chief. As the senior law enforcement official at the port, Smith oversees the planning and execution of the department's maritime security and...

Key US rail deal approved.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: JOHN BOYD Canadian National Railway can go ahead and complete its purchase of the Chicago-area short-line Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway, the Surface Transportation Board said. The STB's decision will become effective on Jan....

CSX expands Florida intermodal.
January 12, 2009... CSX Intermodal announced last month that it is expanding its services in Florida. The carrier has added trailer service to Orlando, opening up heavily trafficked lanes such as Atlanta-Orlando and Savannah-Orlando for private trailers owned...

Risks and rewards.
January 12, 2009... BYLINE: BERNIE HART The top nine challenges in '09 for global supply chains Importers and exporters may face significant unexpected costs and increased disruptions in 2009 if they do not properly address challenges to their supply...

Maersk expands Espreso service in Gulf.
January 12, 2009... Maersk will be adding a fourth vessel and three ports of call to its weekly north-south Espreso service between the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, the company announced late last month. New calls will be Mobile, Ala.;...

New ro-ro for Tampa.
January 12, 2009... The Port of Tampa announced that Baltimore-based AAA Lines will launch a new export ro-ro service to West Africa and the Middle East. The service will begin with the arrival of AAA Lines' Ocean Coach at Tampa on Jan. 4, to call at Cotonou,...

That sinking feeling.
January 19, 2009... As demand for freight transportation continues to soften, every sector of the transportation industry is experiencing that old sinking feeling. The Institute for Supply Management reports that U.S. manufacturing activity dropped to a 28-year...

FDA 'asleep at the switch:'.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Food safety reformers advocate tougher labeling and inspections for imported foods Shortly before Thanksgiving, the Food and Drug Administration opened an office in China, the FDA's first office outside the...

Ranchers versus meat packers: Battle over country-of-origin labeling continues.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: ALAN M. FIELD Ranchers charge USDA with undermining intention of rules For U.S. cattle producers, the concept of country-of-origin labeling seemed simple: Require all muscle cuts of beef produced from U.S. and foreign cattle to...

Shrimp shipper disputes transshipment charges CBP's testing methods a "black box".
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: R.G. EDMONSON Erwin Sutanto is frustrated. Customs and Border Protection is challenging the country of origin of his company's product based on laboratory test results, but has been unwilling to discuss the laboratory testing that...

New cranes for New Orleans.
January 19, 2009... The Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans awarded a $26.5 million contract to Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. of Seoul, South Korea, for the construction of two new multipurpose gantry cranes for the Napoleon Avenue...

TWIC compliance under way in the Gulf.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: JANET NODAR Houston region gearing up for April deadline Transportation Worker Identification Credential compliance has gone live in the east Gulf but is still pending for most of the west. The deadline is April 14 for many...

CMA CGM Blue Whale calls the east Gulf.
January 19, 2009... CMA CGM's 5,100-TEU Blue Whale was the first vessel in the carrier's PEX-3 Gulf-Far East service to call at the Mobile Container Terminal earlier this month. PEX 3 also includes a Houston call in the Gulf. Port rotation is Shanghai, Xiamen,...

Lawsuit for Horizon Lines.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: PETER T. LEACH Horizon Lines Inc. said it will "vigorously defend" itself against a securities class-action lawsuit related to alleged price-fixing in its Puerto Rican shipping operations. The company said recently that the...

MSC takes delivery of 13,000-TEU ship.
January 19, 2009... Mediterranean Shipping Co. took delivery of a 13,800-TEU ship in mid-December. The MSC Daniela was built by Samsung Heavy Industry Shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. To meet requirements for bridge visibility on the large container ship, the...

Johnson aims for tax change.
January 19, 2009... BYLINE: COURTNEY TOWER The United States St. Lawrence Seaway administrator said his top priority in 2009 will be to convince Congress to drop the Harbor Maintenance Tax for short-sea shipping. Dropping the tax, imposed on shippers...

Industrial Eagle makes maiden voyage.
January 19, 2009... Darce Kullman, right, general manager of Industrial Terminals, presented a maiden voyage plaque to Capt. Cvijeto Bozovic, master of the Industrial Eagle, on the occasion of the vessel's maiden voyage to Houston. A cocktail reception followed...

Marine Highways.
January 19, 2009... Seabridge Freight's new short-sea tug-barge service between Port Manatee, Fla. and the Port of Brownsville, Texas, began operations late last month. The company hopes to add a second tug-barge combination when demand calls for it, but...

Questions for the panelists.(Discussion)
January 26, 2009... Groundhog Day is just around the corner, but if Punxatawney Phil were to poke around the wider world, instead of just looking for his shadow, he would find immense changes. I began thinking of the changes in the world of trade and...

Gulf ports brace for a rough 2009.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: JANET NODAR Weathering the short term, planning for the long haul Whether they had a foul 2008 or a fair - and some Gulf ports had a surprisingly healthy year, considering the turbulent economy - nearly all are hunkering down...

Roads, but no direction.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Freight industry fears lack of leadership Shippers have clamored for years for more spending on highways, bridges and ports. However, now that the federal government is preparing to lavish hundreds of billions...

The Allen Group relocates to Dallas.
January 26, 2009... The Allen Group, a commercial real estate development company and developers of the Dallas Logistics Hub, a 6,000-acre multimodal logistics park in South Dallas County, announced that the company has relocated its corporate headquarters and...

Mexico to cut tariffs on industrial products.
January 26, 2009... Mexico will cut tariffs on capital goods and other industrial imports to lower costs for Mexican manufacturers who have been hurt by the U.S. recession, Finance Minister Agustin Carstens announced. The cuts are aimed in particular at the...

Crane flying higher.(Company overview)
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO With lessons from EGL, and no debt in hand, new forwarder starts with aim of global freight reach Crane Worldwide Logistics seems to have emerged suddenly as a fully functioning international freight forwarding...

Keeping America's ports safe.
January 26, 2009... BYLINE: BRANDYN HILL Coast Guard prevention departments protect commerce, security, ships, passengers, crew and the environment Dressed in blue coveralls and wearing thick gloves, armed with hard hats and flashlights, are the men and...