Gulf Shipper articles from November 2006

Gulf Shipper archives from November 2006

Central America Trade: Hopes and fears.
November 6, 2006... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Panama Canal expansion poses risk for tiny nation The overwhelming approval by Panamanian voters of the proposed $5.25 billion expansion of the Panama Canal is raising hopes and fears in the international...

Nicaragua revives canal dreams.
November 6, 2006... BYLINE: Leticia Lozano Pipe dream or grand design for one of world's poorest nations? It's an old idea that keeps coming back. More than 400 years after an Atlantic-Pacific canal through Nicaragua was first proposed, the impoverished...

Economy takes a breather.
November 6, 2006... Steel imports declined 11.8 percent in September, down, from 4.2 million tons in August to 3.7 million tons. The softening in steel imports is blamed on an inventory buildup during the summer either largely or partly because of soft domestic...

Vitarana, Yeager to receive Connie Awards.
November 6, 2006... The Containerization & Intermodal Institute has chosen Anil Jay Vitarana, president of United Arab Agencies Inc., and Phillip C. Yeager, founder and chairman of Hub Group Inc., as the 2006 recipients of the Connie Award. They will be honored at...

Shippers give C-TPAT mixed reviews.
November 6, 2006... The Customs-Trade Partner-ship Against Terrorism program is a good idea, but the costs of membership outweigh the advantages, according to shippers in a survey conducted by the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at...

Richard takes helm at West Feliciana.
November 6, 2006... Roger Richard, former chief executive of the Port of Baton Rouge, has been named the first executive director of the proposed Port of West Feliciana. The West Feliciana Parish Port Commission hired Richard, 65, after he spent nearly a year as...

Pilot Commission has empty seats.
November 6, 2006... The 11-member Louisiana Pilotage Fee Commission has two empty seats to fill. Erik F. Johnsen, chairman of International Shipholding Corp., and Paul Wegener, former vice president of M.G. Maher & Co., submitted resignations recently from the...

Port of Mobile approves funds for projects.
November 6, 2006... The Alabama State Port Authority recently approved a $159.2 million capital budget, including projects to be partially funded by $105 million in new bond financing. The budget includes $64 million to expand McDuffie Coal Terminal, where...

Hall refutes handling of port connector road.
November 6, 2006... Dick Hall, Central District commissioner for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said he opposes the DOT's handling of plans for the Canal Road Connector. He spoke recently at the Gulfport Business Club about the elevated Canal Road...

Port Freeport revises channel-dredging plan.
November 6, 2006... Port Freeport is not planning to dig its entrance channel as deep as originally planned, according to input from its channel users. The original plan was to widen the channel to 540 feet and deepen it to 60 feet. The channel is currently 400...

Port of Brownsville adds tenant.
November 6, 2006... The Port of Brownsville has a new tenant that plans to invest $6 million in a mega-shredder for ship and auto recycling. Rio Grande Shredding Co. plans to recycle up to 15,000 tons of industrial scrap annually, said Robert Berry, Rio Grande...

Women making strides in the maritime industry.
November 13, 2006... BYLINE: Janet Nodar and Johanna Knapschaefer Industry names top 10 women in Gulf transportation The maritime industry is a man's world, make no mistake. But the doors are opening; there are now at least a few women working in virtually...

Transportation leaders.
November 13, 2006... Gulf Shipper is proud to announce in this issue its 3rd annual list of some of the top women who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the Gulf transportation industry. Most of the 10 transportation executives profiled in this issue...

American Commercial Lines sees earnings increase.
November 13, 2006... American Commercial Lines reported $267 million in revenue, up 59 percent for the third quarter of this year compared with $167 million in the third quarter of 2005. The result reflects the sale of American Commercial Lines' Dominican...

American Commercial Lines closes sale of Venezuela operation.
November 13, 2006... In October, American Commercial Lines Inc. closed the sale of its ACBL Venezuela and GMS Venezuela operations for $32 million. The Jeffersonville, Ind.-based company provides integrated marine transportation and services and operates in the...

ISC reports third-quarter loss.
November 13, 2006... International Shipholding Corp. has reported a net loss of $936,000 for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $845,000 for the same quarter in 2005. For the first nine months of 2006, the company posted a net loss of...

Waterways Council names new officers.
November 13, 2006... The board of directors of the Waterways Council has elected its 2006-2007 officers and executive committee members. Mark Knoy, president of AEP MEMCO, was elected chairman. Peter Lilly, chief operating officer, coal, of CONSOL Energy Inc.,...

Port officials sign agreement.
November 13, 2006... Port of New Orleans officials signed an agreement on Oct. 26, 2006, with the U.S. Maritime Administration to transfer all federal interests in two berths at the Poland Avenue Wharf for the conversion of the cargo terminal to a cruise terminal....

Texas distribution center expected to ease border congestion.
November 13, 2006... The creation of an inland distribution center in Robstown, Texas, is expected to ease cargo congestion and delays along the U.S.-Mexican border, South Texas officials said. As a major benefactor of free-trade agreements, Texas receives a high...

UPS reports strong earnings.
November 13, 2006... UPS said its net income rose 8.9 percent to $1.04 billion in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, as surging international package volume helped offset slow U.S. air growth and as per-package yield grew solidly. One weak spot was the Supply...

Reshaping policy.
November 20, 2006... BYLINE: Angela Greiling Keane Democrats are expected to challenge how transportation systems are funded The sweeping Democratic victory in the House and Senate on Nov. 7 will reshape transportation policy for years to come and...

Heavy rail.
November 20, 2006... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Custom railcars ease project cargo moves Need to muscle a 628-ton reactor from Houston to Commerce City, Colo.; trot a half-dozen pressure vessels weighing 550 tons across Louisiana; or sling a 126-foot long...

High risk.
November 20, 2006... BYLINE: Peter Leach Project shippers must maneuver geopolitical hot spots Project cargo and breakbulk shippers moving goods to destinations in Third World countries face a host of risks that are far greater than those facing shippers...

Project shortages.
November 20, 2006... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Booming heavy-lift industry faces labor hurdles It may look like the best of all possible worlds for shippers of project cargo and the companies that build capital-intensive projects. There are more big energy...

For sale: P&O Ports.
November 20, 2006... Nowhere but in the U.S. Gulf will the sale of the U.S. assets of P&O Ports have a bigger impact. P&O Ports has operations in 20 U.S. ports; half are in the Gulf - six in Texas, three in Louisiana and one in Mississippi - and the rest are on the...

UPS expands global delivery options.
November 20, 2006... With international services by far its fastest growing business, UPS is adding to its delivery capabilities outside the United States. In what the company calls its biggest expansion in a decade for international parcel services, UPS said...

Fritz Institute offers humanitarian logistics program.
November 20, 2006... The Fritz Institute, the global nonprofit relief organization founded by logistics entrepreneur Lynn Fritz, is offering a certification in humanitarian logistics program to professionalize supply-chain management when disaster strikes. ...

ProLogis goes south.
November 20, 2006... BYLINE: William Hoffman Logistics and distribution real-estate behemoth ProLogis is growing even bigger, announcing huge purchases in Mexico that propel it to the top of that country's logistics industry. ProLogis, a globe-spanning...

Correction: Stufflebeam named one of 10 leading women.
November 20, 2006... The following story corrects the spelling of Denise Stufflebeam's name as it appeared in the Nov. 13 issue of Gulf Shipper: Denise Stufflebeam was working the graveyard shift as a computer operator at the Bradenton Herald when she saw an...

Blust leaves FMC for box lessor group.
November 20, 2006... Steven Blust has been named president of the Institute of International Container Lessors, effective Dec. 1. Blust replaces Henry F. White, Jr., who resigned in September. White was named executive director and chief operating officer of the...

KCS promotes Selby to assistant VP.
November 20, 2006... Kansas City Southern has promoted Darin Selby from general director to assistant vice president of sales and marketing for the coal business unit of the KSC Railway Co. As the primary representative of the coal business unit, Selby is...

JoC Breakbulk Conference honors Roger Kavanagh.
November 20, 2006... Roger Kavanagh received the Annual Lifetime Leadership and Achievement Award at the recent Journal of Commerce Breakbulk Transportation Conference in New Orleans. Since 2004, the breakbulk conference has presented the award to industry veterans...

Mobile offers incentives for proposed EADS aircraft assembly center.
November 20, 2006... Mobile, Ala., officials are offering $110 million in incentives for a refueling tanker project, money that could finance an aircraft assembly center in the city. Northrop Grumman Corp. and the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. will...

SeverCorr ready for steel mini-mill opening.
November 20, 2006... SeverCorr is nearing the Phase 1 opening of its $850 million steel mini-mill near Columbus, Miss. The company was formed in 2003 to create a next-generation steel plant to service growing manufacturing opportunities in the south. SeverCorr...

Coalition discusses financing for I-49 gaps.
November 20, 2006... Business and political leaders met recently at the Interstate 49 International Coalition conference in Rogers, Ark., to explore innovative ways to fund completion of the southern section of I-49. Developers and investors said they prefer to...

Moyes bids for Swift Transportation.
November 20, 2006... BYLINE: Paul Page It turns out that Jerry Moyes' bid to get back into active trucking management by buying out troubled less-than-truckload carrier Central Freight Lines was just a warm-up for the main event. In his boldest move yet to...

Coal power.
November 27, 2006... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Coal imports climb, export growth stalls Foreign coal shipments into Gulf of Mexico ports are climbing steadily. Powerhouse Mobile is showing double digit increases in imports. Coal imports through the New Orleans...

Energy factor.
November 27, 2006... With ports and cargo volumes growing steadily alongside expanding populations in the South, so is energy consumption, leading to forecasts of an energy crunch. The current problems with energy supply in this region appear to stem largely from...

Louisiana's exports rise.
November 27, 2006... The value of Louisiana's merchandise exports topped $16.7 billion in the first nine months of this year, up nearly 16.2 percent from $14.4 billion during the same period last year. The World Trade Center of New Orleans predicts 2006 will be a...

ISC move set for spring.
November 27, 2006... The new terminal being built by the Alabama State Port Authority for CG Railway's rail-ferry service to Mexico is scheduled for completion by April 2007, a month after parent Inter-national Shipholding Corp. plans to move its corporate...

Hamburg Sud changes Ybarra name.
November 27, 2006... The Hamburg Sud Group is rebranding its Spanish shipping company, Ybarra y Cia Sudamerica, with a new name, Hamburg Sud Iberia. This change, which takes effect Jan. 1, will enable the group to present itself worldwide under the unified Hamburg...

Hayden goes to Lake Charles.
November 27, 2006... Channing Hayden has joined the Port of Lake Charles as director of navigation and security. The longtime leader of the New Orleans Steamship Association, which morphed into the Steamship Association of Louisiana, will manage navigation and...

Shippers survive peak season.
November 27, 2006... BYLINE: Paul T. Rosynsky Judging by the relative ease at which goods were transported through the country during this year's peak shipping season, the doomsday scenarios prompted by the congestion-filled 2004 season were overdone. ...

Regional LTL market still strong.
November 27, 2006... BYLINE: William B. Cassidy Signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy abound, but some regional trucking companies are breezing past them, barely tapping the brakes. For now, regional trucking companies are faring better than their...