Gulf Shipper articles from May 2007

Gulf Shipper archives from May 2007

Mobile congestion?
May 7, 2007... The Port of Houston's container bottleneck in recent years was bound by the physical constraints of its Barbours Cut Terminal, which the port successfully operated beyond capacity by extending working hours and pressuring shippers to move...

Alabama plans for the future.
May 7, 2007... Port of Mobile invests in major expansion projects Steelmaking feedstock and finished products will have to be discharged and loaded at Mobile and barged to and from the plant if ThyssenKrupp elects to build its massive new steel mill in...

Johnsen retires; International Shipholding moves to Mobile.(Company overview)
May 7, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar On April 24, Erik F. Johnsen, 81, retired as chairman of International Shipholding Corp., just days after the company relocated from New Orleans to new offices in Mobile, Ala. Johnsen and his brother Niels W. founded...

SeverCorr expedites steel mill expansion.
May 7, 2007... Expansion of SeverCorr's new steel mill in Lowndes County, Miss., has been placed on a fast track that will more than double the mill's capacity. Company officials said the faster pace of construction was a strategic decision made by company...

Brownsville shortens list of director candidates.
May 7, 2007... The Port of Brownsville has narrowed its search for a new director as the Brownsville Navigation Board cut its list of 30 prospective directors down to three. The remaining candidates are Eduardo A. Campirano, David M. McNeel and Randolph R....

Gontarski wins Southeast award.
May 7, 2007... Port of Manatee's Joe Gontarski, a 30-year member of Tampa Bay's maritime community, was elected as the International Propeller Club's U.S. Southeast Region Maritime Person of the Year, making him eligible for International Maritime Person of...

Agility promotes Al-Saleh to unit president.
May 7, 2007... World logistics giant Agility has announced the promotion of Essa Al-Saleh to president and chief executive of its Global Integrated Logistics unit. In his new position, the nine-year Agility employee will oversee the company's private-sector...

Container broker IAS continues growth.
May 7, 2007... The growing imbalance of containers worldwide is contributing to the rapid expansion of International Assets System's container exchange service, the company said, as it announced the addition of a new representative in South America. ...

Suez Canal gains popularity.
May 7, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach This looks like the year. During the coming months, the Suez Canal alternative for Asian cargo to East Coast ports may finally come into its own. For several years, liner service through the Suez has been touted...

Port of Lake Charles opens two warehouses.
May 7, 2007... More than 200,000 square feet of new warehouse space opened at the Port of Lake Charles late last month that will allow the Louisiana port to attract more forest shipping products. The space became available after the Lake Charles Harbor...

US-EU trade improves.
May 14, 2007... With most traditional ocean trade lanes between the U.S. and Europe swamped by fleet overcapacity, it's welcome news that U.S. and European Union leaders have agreed to reduce bureaucratic barriers between the world's two largest economies. ...

Weak dollar pushes exports.
May 14, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Gulf commodities headed for Europe The inexpensive dollar is galvanizing the Gulf trade in export commodities with Europe. Robert Landry, director of marketing at the Port of New Orleans, said trade with northern...

American Waterways elects new leader.
May 14, 2007... The American Waterways Operators, a trade group representing U.S. tugboat, towboat and barge companies, elected Royce Wilkin as chairman. He formerly served as vice chairman. H. Merritt Lane was selected as his replacement. Wilkin is a...

Panama Canal Authority names Kuzniecky chairman.
May 14, 2007... The Panama Canal Authority's board of directors elected Dani Ariel Kuzniecky as its new chairman just as the authority approved a new pricing system for the critical gateway and begins work on an expansion. He replaces Ricaurte Vasquez, a...

Pilenko takes reins at Technip.
May 14, 2007... Technip, a giant in the field of oil and gas engineering and construction, announced the appointment of Thierry Pilenko to chairman and chief executive. A former chief executive for Houston-based Veritas DGC, Pilenko joined Technip in...

Rickmers-Linie plays role in International Space Station.
May 14, 2007... Rickmers-Linie, a project cargo steamship line that prides itself for its around-the-world service, can now also boast about helping provide service around the solar system. Last month, the company's vessel Rickmers New Orleans, delivered a key...

Steel imports down but not out.
May 14, 2007... U.S. steel imports declined more than 23 percent during the first quarter compared to the same period last year, but slight increases in March could result in steel import totals for 2007 similar to those last year, the American Institute for...

Port of New Orleans tries to collect insurance.
May 14, 2007... The Port of New Orleans increased pressure on one of its insurance companies late last month, sending out a press release urging FM Global to pay a fair share of costs to rebuild the complex after Hurricane Katrina's wrath. Titled "FM...

Port of Freeport to house windmills.
May 14, 2007... The Brazos River Harbor District, which operates the Port of Freeport, Texas, agreed late last month to add five acres of limestone pavement to an existing terminal. This will enable the port to house windmills destined for West Texas and...

Companies seek to manage supply-chain risk.
May 14, 2007... BYLINE: David Biederman When the punishing winds of Hurricane Rita pummeled the Gulf Coast in September 2005, causing more than $11 billion in damage, Continental Airlines was forced to close its Houston hub for five days. That meant...

New steel.
May 21, 2007... The new $3.7 billion ThyssenKrupp AG steel plant just north of Mobile, Ala., is good news for the entire Gulf Coast. The fact that a major German steel manufacturer will set up shop in a southern state is a great boon not just for the home port...

Logistics spotlight shines on Texas.
May 21, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Second major multimodal center opens in Dallas-Fort Worth area Is the Dallas-Fort Worth area really big enough for two major multimodal transportation centers? The inauguration of the 6,000-acre Dallas Logistics...

The 'other' metals.
May 21, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Gulf handles specialty metals Copper and aluminum are not the highest-volume breakbulk commodities in the Gulf. Many ports that see forest products, steel and project cargoes in the hundreds of thousands or even...

Wood cycles.
May 21, 2007... BYLINE: Paul T. Rosynsky  Once-stable industry ebbs and flows For at least the last decade, the shipping of forest products to and from the U.S. was a gold mine for the steamship lines transporting the cargoes and the ports...

New Orleans welcomes new Intermarine vessel.
May 21, 2007... New Orleans-based steam-ship line Intermarine celebrated the maiden voyage of its Industrial Dawn this month as the heavy-lift ship called at the Port of New Orleans. The vessel is one of six sister ships that have been designated by...

Port of Pensacola sees revenue decline.
May 21, 2007... The Port of Pensacola's future as a maritime hub is being questioned again as the port reported a revenue drop in the first six months of its fiscal year, the Pensacola News Journal reported. The port earned slightly more than $630,000 in...

Alabama ports switch to biodeisel fuel.
May 21, 2007... The environmental consciousness of the nation's ports has reached Alabama as the Alabama State Port Authority agreed to use a biodiesel fuel mixture to power its yard equipment. The new fuel will power nearly 125 pieces of equipment...

MSC stevedore switch backs up New Orleans terminal operation.
May 21, 2007... The decision of Mediterranean Shipping Co. to switch stevedoring operations at the Port of New Orleans from Ports America to Ceres Gulf is causing a traffic jam of up to seven hours at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminals, the New Orleans...

Port consolidation? Not in Louisiana.
May 21, 2007... Louisiana ports are comfortable with sharing ideas and working together to generate maritime business for the state, but port officials are not keen on complete consolidation, New Orleans City Business reported. "It's a good concept whose...

New crane delivered to Gulfport.
May 21, 2007... The Port of Gulfport, Miss., received a new crane this month that will be used at Piers 6 and 7 and at the West Pier. The German-made Gottwald crane weighs 360 tons and has a 110-ton heavy-lift capacity, 31-metric-ton grab operation and hook...

New Orleans coffee guru Rosen dies.
May 21, 2007... Edward Rosen, a New Orleans' native and international coffee guru, died this month. He was 78. Rosen began his career in 1950 at Leon Israel & Bros. He worked his way up to the post of president of ACLI International, a company formed when...

LaRue elected to lead IRTA board.
May 21, 2007... The Port of Corpus Christi will have increased influence on the board of the International Refrigerated Transportation Alliance as its executive director, John LaRue, was elected chairman of the board for the lobbying group. LaRue will...

Emerging steel.
May 28, 2007... Only a handful of Latin companies have attained global leadership, but you can probably add the new Ternium-Hylsa-Imsa alliance to the likes of Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer and Brazilian mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce. ...

Steeling Monterrey.
May 28, 2007... Region's minimills tag Mexico among leading steelmaker nations When the huge Fundidora steel smelter in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey went bankrupt in May 1986, the industry that had helped build Mexico's industrial heartland since...

International Maritime Hall of Fame inducts Angus R. Cooper II.
May 28, 2007... Angus R. Cooper II, a member of the famous Mobile, Ala., Cooper family and a maritime pioneer in his own right, was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame. Cooper, whose family founded the Cooper/T. Smith maritime industry...

Port of Houston hires spokesperson.
May 28, 2007... Veteran television news editor Lisa Ashley Whitlock has joined the Port of Houston Authority to lead its communications department, one of the three departments in the public affairs division. She will report directly to the public affairs...

Hamburg Sud Venezuela promotes Castillo.
May 28, 2007... Hamburg Sud Venezuela promoted Omar Castillo to director for operations, logistics and finance, effective May 14. Castillo, 42, has been with the company for six years. He was hired as a commercial manager. In 2005, he was promoted to...

Albanese to take FedEx Custom Critical reigns from Pickard.
May 28, 2007... FedEx Custom Critical, a subsidiary of the FedEx Corp., announced the retirement of John G. Pickard, president and chief executive. His last day will be June 1, and Virginia Albanese will replace him. Pickard has more than three decades of...

Agility continues to expand.
May 28, 2007... The rapid expansion of international logistics firm Agility continued this month with its acquisition of China-based Guangzhou Runtong International Transportation Co. The purchase brings another 138 employees under Agility's control and a...

ThyssenKrupp chooses Alabama for steel mill.
May 28, 2007... The multimillion-dollar bidding war between Louisiana and Alabama over the right to host a new ThyssenKrupp steel mill finally ended this month as the German company chose Alabama's cheaper business costs over Louisiana's deep-water access. ...

Real-time measuring information comes to Mobile.
May 28, 2007... Sailing to the docks of the Port of Mobile, Ala., will be easier now that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration installed a measuring station that can produce real-time water-level statistics. Port officials heralded the station,...

Mississippi State Port Authority releases 10-year master plan.
May 28, 2007... The Mississippi State Port Authority released a draft copy of a 10-year master plan this month. It calls for an investment of more than $500 million in the next decade to ensure the state remains a competitive player in the maritime industry....

Bill to boost port authority hiring power advances in Alabama.
May 28, 2007... A new bill that would give the executive director of the Alabama Port Authority more power to hire and fire top executives won broad approval from the state's House of Representatives and now faces a stern challenge in the state Senate, the...

Most Gulf ports see decline in security grants.
May 28, 2007... Gulf ports won more than $54 million during the seventh round of Port Security Grant Funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security this month. Most Gulf ports, however, saw funding decreases this year compared to last year. The...

Crowley boosts capacity on Gulf-Central America route.
May 28, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp. added a third vessel, the Hansaland, to its Gulf Coast-to-northern Central America service. The roll-on, roll-off vessel became operational on May 18, increasing capacity in the service by 22 percent. The new vessel...

Seaboard expands service.
May 28, 2007... A growth in exports from the U.S. to Panama and Costa Rica, coupled with increased refrigerated goods shipped in reverse, convinced Seaboard Marine to add a new vessel to its Miami-to-southern Central America service. The Seaboard Pride, a...