Gulf Shipper articles from July 2007

Gulf Shipper archives from July 2007

Demanding growth.
July 2, 2007... Project cargo is moving in record volumes as emerging industrialized nations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East demand more space on multipurpose vessels for the ballooning number of projects at hand. From projects for liquefied natural...

Buyer's market.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman It's a good time to shop for a 3PL Recent years of mergers and acquisitions reduced the number of globe-spanning third-party logistics providers to a handful, raising anxiety levels among some shippers concerned...

Finding a match.
July 2, 2007... If price is the only factor you consider when choosing a third-party logistics provider, experts say, you're probably doing it wrong. While price and terms are often paramount, other elements should be weighed, and managers shouldn't be...

Project cargo booms on.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Tight vessel capacity, high rates take toll The high price of oil and a growing global energy demand continue to drive the project cargo market. But the sector is facing serious stress. Tight vessel capacity, high...

Projects in, projects out.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Wind turbine manufacturer Suzlon has chartered five Beluga ships to carry wind energy components from its India plant to the Gulf of Mexico. Ship agent ProShipLine of Houston then books new energy-related project...

Project cargo rates soar.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Bruce Barnard Freight rates for heavy-lift and project cargo shipping have soared to record highs as operators struggle to meet demand fueled by climbing oil prices and explosive economic growth in China and India. There aren't...

Fast project cargo.
July 2, 2007... Advance International Transport Inc., a project forwarder headquartered in the U.K., has laid claim to the fastest shipment of project cargo yet. Advance International recently handled a shipment of seven heat exchangers from Port Kelang,...

Crowley to take over logistics in El Salvador.
July 2, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp. recently announced it will continue to provide logistics services in El Salvador using its own staff when its agency agreement with TranSebastian ends on July 1. Crowley began logistics operations in El Salvador in 1998....

APL expands service.
July 2, 2007... Container carrier APL has added a third vessel string with fixed weekly sailings to complement its existing CAX and MCX services linking the U.S. East Coast and Central America. The first voyage of the Central America East Coast service (CAE)...

Seaboard acquires combination vessel.
July 2, 2007... Seaboard Marine has announced the purchase of the Romea, a "combination" vessel with roll-on, roll-off and lift-on, lift-off capabilities. The vessel was purchased from Visemar Transporti of Italy for an undisclosed price and has been renamed...

Room to grow.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar  Wind turbines come ashore in Texas Texas ports with available acreage and low congestion are in the catbird seat when it comes to handling wind turbines. The burgeoning wind energy industry is rapidly taking...

Port of Corpus Christi contemplates going green.
July 2, 2007... The Port of Corpus Christi is experimenting with building a small wind farm on port property. Al Speight, manager of industrial development at the port, said a meteorological tower is measuring wind speeds at the port's inner harbor to...

Ports key to Louisiana's economic recovery, Appel says.
July 2, 2007... Conrad Appel, chairman of the Port of New Orleans Dock Board, has a solution to Louisiana's economic recovery -- and it lies in the state's docks. Appel spent the last six months trying to generate support for a plan that would focus state...

Port Arthur officials predict closing of local steel plant.
July 2, 2007... Officials at the Port of Port Arthur, Texas, fear the recent purchase of Lone Star Steel by U.S. Steel will result in the closing of a nearby plant and the loss of nearly 600,000 tons of steel slabs through the docks, the Port Arthur News...

Project industry eyes Libya.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: William Armbruster A complete U.S. trade embargo against Libya after a bomb planted by Libyan agents caused the explosion of a Pan Am jet in December 1988 brought an abrupt halt to all business deals between the two countries. ...

Alabama officials seek more trade with Cuba.
July 2, 2007... More than $140 million worth of agricultural and forest products travel to Cuba from Alabama, and state officials are hoping to increase the figure, according to a report by the Huntsville Times. Everything from state-produced catfish to...

Corpus Christi lobbies for international air cargo.
July 2, 2007... The Port of Corpus Christi, Texas, wants its international airport to become a federal entry point for international cargo and has begun a lobbying campaign to win approval for the designation. Without federal approval, international cargo...

LaRue rewarded for hard work.
July 2, 2007... Port of Corpus Christi Executive Director John LaRue has served as leader of the port for the last 13 years handling every duty imaginable from negotiating new contracts with shipping lines to cleaning up meeting rooms. For all his hard...

Collar to head Crowley's new division.
July 2, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp. promoted Steve Collar, a 30-year veteran of the company, to senior vice president and general manager of a new technical services division that was created last month. The new division combines various Crowley...

Former Gulfport executive leaves Baltimore port.
July 2, 2007... BYLINE: Joseph Bonney Brooks Royster announced he will resign as executive director of the Maryland Port Administration following a change in the state's political leadership. Royster said he has agreed to stay on until July 31 and that no...

Fentress Bracewell, Houston Port Authority Commission veteran, dies.(Obituary)
July 2, 2007... Fentress Bracewell, the longest-serving chairman of the Houston Port Authority Commission and the last living founder of powerhouse law firm now named Bracewell & Giuliani, has died. He was 85. Credited as a "port maverick," Bracewell...

The cost of oil.
July 9, 2007... The corruption, terrorists and underhanded dealings in the Middle East have certainly forced many Americans to re-examine their addictions to energy-gulping gadgets and cars, but the dictator in our own backyard -- Venezuelan President Hugo...

Cloudy forecast.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Skies still not clear over Gulfport Both progress and frustration are in the air at the Port of Gulfport, Miss. Nearly two years have passed since Katrina dealt the port its catastrophic blow, and recovering...

Calm after the storm.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Port of Pascagoula settles Katrina lawsuit The Port of Pascagoula has settled a lawsuit for hurricane damages for $2.79 million and is ready to leave its Katrina-related insurance woes in the past. It's time to move...

Freeport welcomes Beluga Fusion.
July 9, 2007... The Port of Freeport welcomed the Beluga Fusion to its docks last month, with the port's fourth shipment of power producing windmills from India. It was the first time the 12,782-metric-ton vessel called at the port. At a ceremony, Capt. Sergiy...

Galveston reports new -- and improved -- revenue and profit figures for 2006.(Financial report)
July 9, 2007... The Port of Galveston earned nearly $22 million in operating revenue last year, the most it generated since the port became public in 1941, the Galveston Daily News reported. The new figures for 2006 were released after the port conducted a...

Bayport's third berth to be redesigned.
July 9, 2007... The Port of Houston will redesign a third berth planned for the Bayport Container Terminal to accommodate larger ships berthing at the complex, the Houston Chronicle reported. Port officials did not expect Bayport's leading tenet, CMA CGM,...

CG Railway's new terminal is now open.
July 9, 2007... CG Railway's new dual-deck rail-ferry terminal at the Alabama State Port Authority is now in operation. By the end of the summer, CG Railway's two vessels, the Banda Sea and the Bali Sea, will be fitted with upper decks that double their...

Alabama State Port Authority promotes Thorne.
July 9, 2007... Record trade volume at the Alabama State Port Authority has resulted in the promotion of one port executive and the hiring of a new executive from the private sector, the authority announced. H.L. "Smitty" Thorne was promoted to executive...

Taylor fills VP post at Crowley.
July 9, 2007... Capt. Bill Taylor, a six-year employee of Crowley Maritime Corp., was promoted to vice president of bulk petroleum and chemical transportation, the company announced. Taylor will be responsible for the commercial activities of the...

Intermarine promotes two.
July 9, 2007... Intermarine announced that Michael Schmidt recently transferred to the cargo carrier's new Shanghai office. He will direct project development and pricing activities in the company's Far East, India and Persian Gulf service. Schmidt joined...

White to return to Baltimore.
July 9, 2007... James White will return to the Port of Baltimore as executive director of the Maryland Port Administration, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced. He succeeds Brooks Royster, who is leaving the agency on July 31 after serving two years...

Logistics costs continue to rise.
July 9, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Logistics costs for U.S. shippers in 2006 grew faster than the nation's economy for the third straight year, rising to 9.9 percent of gross domestic product from 9.4 percent in 2005 in a sign that higher costs...

Ports need energy.
July 16, 2007... As cargo volumes ebb and flow, ports are constantly faced with the challenge of diversifying revenue streams to survive market downturns. This is particularly true of bulk and breakbulk cargo, which can dry up quickly when demand or supply...

Tampa and Manatee expect growth.
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Florida population rising Florida sunshine will continue to be a magnet for millions of Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, attracting another 13 million people to the state over the next two decades....

Coffee industry tests C-TPAT.
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: William Armbruster The National Coffee Association of U.S.A. Inc. recently announced it is moving into the pilot phase of an industry program to support the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Participants in the pilot...

Kansas City airport to expand.
July 16, 2007... Kansas City plans to build an 800-acre intermodal center on Kansas City Inter-national Airport property. Dubbed the KCI Intermodal BusinessCentre, the new facility would allow for the transfer of goods from plane to truck and vice versa. It...

New container ship delivered to Rickmers.
July 16, 2007... This month, the Rickmers Group took delivery of the Marte Rickmers, the third of 21 vessels being built for the company in Dalian, China. The vessel can hold 4,250 TEUs and has a length of 802 feet. CMA CGM will charter the ship under the...

Houston Ship Channel wins federal funding.
July 16, 2007... The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations has granted more than $33 million to the Port of Houston Authority to maintain the Houston Ship Channel. The money will be sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Galveston District, which...

Port of Houston plans expansion and security upgrades.
July 16, 2007... The Port of Houston Authority will spend nearly $5 million on various construction projects. The port's commission approved spending that will result in maintenance dredging, shoreline stabilization and an Internet-based emergency...

Gulf ports take home AAPA awards.
July 16, 2007... The American Association of Port Authorities recently honored several Gulf ports for outstanding work in public relations. The Port of Houston received the most awards -- four. The Port of New Orleans and Port Manatee followed close behind,...

Ports urged to keep land for maritime use.
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Development of residential facilities on prime waterfront property produces a much higher return on investment, but port executives gathered for a recent conference were warned to resist the temptation to forfeit...

Gearbulk diversifies cargo through Port of Lake Charles.
July 16, 2007... Gearbulk Shipping Inc. has begun to ship wood pulp to the Port of Lake Charles. Gearbulk's decision will result in a 40 percent increase in total annual volume tonnage shipped by the company through the port. By the end of the year,...

Lawal reappointed to Houston port commission.
July 16, 2007... The Houston Port Authority Commission gave Kase Lawal, an eight-year member, another two years in his post. Lawal represents the city of Houston on the commission and won unanimous approval by the City Council to serve a fifth term on the port...

Dell severs ties with UPS.
July 16, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman UPS's loss of Dell's small package delivery business in the U.S. leaves a hole in the revenue and operations of the world's largest parcel carrier. Like a celebrity breakup, it generated a lot of speculation about...

Bye-bye, MR-GO.
July 23, 2007... A hyperactive toddler and his mother were ejected earlier this month from a Continental Express flight departing Houston after the boy repeatedly said, "Bye-bye, plane," to an airline flight attendant. The 19-month-old child was hardly...

Rebuilding, repairing and reinventing: The Port of New Orleans, two years after Katrina.
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Remarkable progress has been made, but don't be mistaken: The Port of New Orleans, like the city that surrounds it, is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. Deep-draft vessels can no longer call at berths on the...

Lake Charles District elects officers.
July 23, 2007... The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District Board elected a new slate of officers for fiscal 2007-2008. The board made history in the process by electing its first African-American president. Davidson Darbone, current president of Grand...

Port Manatee Propeller Club keeps Tyndal at its helm.
July 23, 2007... The Port Manatee Propeller Club has re-elected Steve Tyndal, senior director of trade development and special projects for Port Manatee, as president. Tyndal served as president of the club in 2006, and members decided to keep the certified...

KCS names Naso vice president.
July 23, 2007... Kansas City Southern has appointed Thomas Naso vice president of marketing for its intermodal and automotive business units. Naso is a 27-year veteran of the transportation and logistics industry, where he focused primarily in intermodal and...

P&O Nedlloyd and Maersk Logistics join forces.
July 23, 2007... The former freight forwarding arms of P&O Nedlloyd and Maersk Logistics merged this month to form Damco USA, the new freight forwarder of A.P. Moller-Maersk. Damco USA has a global reach that neither of the companies had on its own. Damco...

Transoceanic expands with new name, jobs.
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Plume and William Hoffmann With project cargo moving in record volumes, a project forwarder needs to have a global reach to manage increasingly bigger contracts that can reach into the farthest corners of the planet. That...

FKI Logistex opens training and demonstration center.
July 23, 2007... Cincinnati-based FKI Logistex, provider of automated material-handling solutions, opened a new technology and education center on July 17. Customers of FKI that want to train employees on a host of automated warehouse systems can visit the...

Ozburn-Hessey saves thousands by recycling.
July 23, 2007... Ozburn-Hessey Logistics recently celebrated an 18-month partnership with the Taylor Group, naming the recycling company its Supplier Partner of the Year. The Taylor Group has saved the Tennessee-based logistics provider thousands of dollars in...

South America offers many trade options.
July 23, 2007... BYLINE: Rosalind McLymont A&K Railroad Materials Inc. has been conducting business in Peru for 25 years, selling rail and track materials for railroad, mine and crane applications. Exports from the Salt Lake City, Utah, company to Peru and...

Emerging Louisiana port seeks land.
July 23, 2007... The West Feliciana (La.) Port Commission is hoping a closing paper mill adjacent to its property will result in free land and a jolt to its campaign to attract more industry and develop a container port, The Baton Rouge Advocate reported. ...

Corpus Christi banks on new wind power.
July 23, 2007... A federal wind turbine and blade-testing facility planned for Ingleside, Texas, has officials at the Port of Corpus Christi anticipating more shipments of wind power project cargo, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported. The $20 million...

Patton Boggs lobbies for Galveston port.
July 23, 2007... The Port of Galveston has entered the world of Beltway politics, hiring a well-known Washington, D.C., lobbying firm in hopes of attracting more federal dollars to its docks, the Houston Chronicle reported. The Galveston Wharves Board agreed to...

Pressure on steel imports.
July 30, 2007... With steel imports at a record in May, it was only a matter of time before the U.S. International Trade Commission began looking into how cheaper steel imports were hurting domestic steel production. Earlier this month, the ITC extended two...

CAFTA drives Caribbean trade.
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: Richard Knee Central American and Caribbean ports investing for growth John Abisch believes the growth in U.S. trade with Central America and the Caribbean will soon double, and he says the transportation services and...

Uniform rules sought for oversize loads.
July 30, 2007... A hodgepodge of requirements for pilot cars in four southern states spurred the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Foundation to fund a study analyzing how the separate requirements can become more uniform. Currently, specialized carriers...

Bristow-Krah Pipe receives tax breaks.
July 30, 2007... Atlanta-based plastic pipe manufacturer Bristow-Krah Pipe won approval for up to $1.7 million in tax abatements from Mobile County to build a $37 million plant in Prichard, the Mobile Press-Register reported. The Industrial Development...

Jackson Offshore to stay in New Orleans.
July 30, 2007... Jackson Offshore LLC, a New Orleans-based oil service company, plans to keep its headquarters in the city despite recent news that Tidewater Inc. is leaving town, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. The company shuttles workers,...

Wilkins joins executive staff at Canal Barge Co.
July 30, 2007... New Orleans-based Canal Barge Co. appointed Delbert "Del" Wilkins vice president of terminal operations and business development. Wilkins has more than 27 years of work experience in the maritime trade industry. Based at the Canal Barge's...

General Freight names Higgs head of International Logistics Division.
July 30, 2007... General Freight Services Inc., an Atlanta-based third-party logistics provider, has hired David Higgs to lead the company's new International Logistics Division. With nearly two decades worth of experience in the international logistics...

Rodriggs to lead Jaxport's team promoting trade with Latin America.
July 30, 2007... Hoping to increase its trade with Latin America, the Jacksonville Port Authority hired Joshua Rodriggs as manager of Latin American marketing and trade development. Rodriggs, a San Paulo, Brazil, native, will help the port's director of...

Houston to study pollution, plans upgrades.
July 30, 2007... The Port of Houston will conduct a study to determine the source of air emissions in and around the port region. The port is looking for a company to do the study. The study will update the 2002 Houston-Galveston Area Vessel Emissions...

Maritime history exhibit visits New Orleans.
July 30, 2007... A 145-year-old copper map plate is the centerpiece of an exhibit on display at the Port of New Orleans. It celebrates the history of maritime commerce in the Crescent City and the 200th anniversary of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Port of Galveston wins new land rights.
July 30, 2007... The Port of Galveston won new rights to pursue economic development opportunities from the Texas Legislature. A law signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry extends municipal economic development powers to the port's board. Previously, the port had...

US truckers fear cross-border program will end their jobs.
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter Oakfield, N.Y., a small town about 30 miles east of Buffalo, may be a world away from trucks waiting at the Mexican border. But for 27-year-old Jamie Woodard, they might as well be in her backyard. Woodard, a...

TWIC delays frustrate lawmakers.
July 30, 2007... BYLINE: R.G. Edmonson As far as Rep. Frank LoBiondo is concerned, this belongs in Ripley's. "It's really hard to believe," the New Jersey Republican said. "We passed a bill, had it signed into law, and they ignore it. They're really...