Gulf Shipper articles from November 2007

Gulf Shipper archives from November 2007

Kindness of strangers.(Conference notes)
November 5, 2007... Last week's Breakbulk Transportation Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans broke records for attendees and exhibitors. Aside from the plethora of exhibits and the crush of attendees, the exciting new convention center venue, the expert...

US exports thrive.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field Industrial output at an all-time high Today the company exports 16 percent of its total sales, up from only 3 percent in 2003; not bad for a company that only employs 20 people. Jason Speer, vice president of...

Port of Lake Charles: An economic engine.
November 5, 2007... The Port of Lake Charles generated more than 31,000 jobs throughout Louisiana last year and added nearly $380 million to state and local government coffers, an economic impact report found. Conducted by renowned consultant Martin and...

Houston job fair attracts thousands.
November 5, 2007... Thousands of Texas residents swooped in to a job fair at the Port of Houston last month, seeking positions in the maritime field. There were more than 1,000 openings at more than 50 companies participating in the fair, which was held at the...

MR-GO closing claims another firm.
November 5, 2007... Bollinger Shipyards formally announced its planned departure from the Port of New Orleans last month because of the closing of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet. The company will begin moving in January and will completely vacate its terminal...

Hanjin to build terminal at Jaxport.
November 5, 2007... Hanjin Shipping Co. and the Jacksonville Port Authority signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the Korean-based company to build a $360 million container terminal at the port. The 170-acre terminal is expected to be completed by...

PAL to study Louisiana port assets.
November 5, 2007... The Ports Association of Louisiana will spend $700,000 to conduct a study it hopes will show the importance of state ports to the region. The Shaw Group will perform the study, which will take 10 months to complete. It aims to show how...

Mobile channel to be expanded.
November 5, 2007... New industrial developments at the Port of Mobile, Ala., will result in the extension of the Mobile River ship channel and construction of a new turning basin, the Mobile Press-Register reported. The expansions are necessary for the port to...

Crowley promotes Rousseau.
November 5, 2007... Robert Rousseau, a 31-year veteran of Crowley Maritime Corp., was promoted to vice president, intermodal, a newly created position in the company's liner service. Rousseau will oversee all of Crowley's inland transportation operations...

DP World forms Antwerp breakbulk venture.
November 5, 2007... Terminal operator DP World has formed a stevedoring joint venture at the Port of Antwerp with Rickmers-Linie, the German project cargo and heavy-lift carrier, and Conti Lines, a Belgian general cargo shipping line. The new company, DP...

Maersk Line to raise rates.
November 5, 2007... Maersk Line announced that it will implement a general rate increase on the eastbound Mediterranean trade from U.S. Atlantic and Gulf ports. The carrier will request increases of $400 for 20-foot containers and $600 for 40- and 45-foot boxes,...

Piracy on the rise.
November 5, 2007... Piracy and armed robbery attacks against ships increased 14 percent in the first nine months of the year compared to the same period in 2006, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The bureau said 198 attacks were reported through...

Counterfeit goods plague manufacturers.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field Phony products threaten health and security of customers It was bad enough when Pfizer Inc. discovered that some of the pharmaceuticals sold under its brand name in the U.S. were counterfeits. It was even worse...

Exporters struggle with equipment shortages.
November 5, 2007... BYLINE: William Armbruster Suppose you're a U.S. company with an opportunity to break into the export market for the first time, or to expand your overseas sales if you're already exporting. It's all because the weak dollar has given you...

Boxes at Brownsville.
November 19, 2007... The veteran breakbulk and bulk port of Brownsville has been chasing container cargo for decades. Over the years, port officials have made forays to Mexico looking for west coast ports of entry and rail links to Brownsville. They've taken trade...

Industry's doors continue to open.
November 19, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Gulf Shipper's Outstanding Women in Transportation for 2007 I wish I was young again. I would love to be starting my career right now," said Joy Lloyd, one of Gulf Shipper's Outstanding Women in Transportation for...

Houston port and city neighbor drop dispute.
November 19, 2007... The Port of Houston Authority and neighboring Seabrook, Texas, signed an agreement this month that will enable future expansion of the Bayport Cruise and Container Terminal. The deal calls for the community to end all lawsuits against the port,...

Voters approve bond for upgrades to Houston port.
November 19, 2007... Expansion of the Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal at the Port of Houston will continue as originally planned after Harris County voters decided to tax themselves to help pay for future projects. In a crucial vote, voters overwhelmingly...

ThyssenKrupp breaks ground on Alabama steel plant.
November 19, 2007... German steel maker ThyssenKrupp began construction this month on its $3.7 billion steel plant in Alabama. When the plant opens in 2010, it is expected to produce more than 5.1 million metric tons of products. To the delight of Alabama...

Intermarine adjusts surcharges.
November 19, 2007... Intermarine, the agent for Industrial Maritime Carriers and West Coast Industrial Express, announced that the carriers will revise the bunker and Panama Canal surcharges on their services to and from South America and the Caribbean, effective...

Rickmers-Line gets stake in Hamburg terminal.
November 19, 2007... For the second time in two months, Rickmers-Linie announced a new partnership that will give the breakbulk shipping line a financial interest in a port terminal. Under a deal that will become effective at the start of 2008, Rickmers-Linie...

Pilot Freight Services expands in Texas.
November 19, 2007... Pilot Freight Services, a logistics and transportation company, announced the opening of a new service facility in Laredo, Texas. The facility, which will be the company's fourth station in Texas, will handle shipments to and from Mexico....

PinPoint to build industrial park near Hobby Airport.
November 19, 2007... A new 350-acre industrial park could soon rise on the edge of Hobby Airport in Houston, the Houston Chronicle reported. Houston-based PinPoint Commercial recently purchased the land and said it plans to use it for the creation of the Hobby...

Freightliner considers move to East Coast.
November 19, 2007... Freightliner LLC, one of the largest manufacturers of trucks, could relocate its corporate headquarters near Charlotte, N.C., the Portland Business Journal reported. The company announced this month that it will relocate 341 sales and...

Up, oil and away.
November 26, 2007... Record prices of crude oil and diesel fuel are impacting much of the global shipping boom. Consumers may have to brace for price hikes in just about everything because of crude oil approaching $100 per barrel; bunker fuel, $500 a ton; and...

Fuel prices keep climbing.
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: William Hoffman Shippers and carriers battle over who pays at the pump For much of the shipping world, the skyrocketing price of oil is an enormous and very expensive game of musical chairs. As long as the music plays, carriers...

Is the Port of New Orleans back?
November 26, 2007... BYLINE: Donald E. Powell How will the port and the city be protected in the future? I get these questions frequently, and the answer to the first one is easy. Yes, the Port of New Orleans is back. Only three months after Hurricane...

Texas wears the US crown in wind-energy production.
November 26, 2007... Texas continued to outperform the rest of the nation in the installation of wind-power technology this year, installing more than 1,000 megawatts of wind projects during the first nine months of 2007. The rapid installations mean the state...

Louisiana on track to set exports record.
November 26, 2007... Louisiana exports continue on a record growth pace as more than $20 billion in goods were exported from the state during the first nine months of this year, just $3 billion below the total value of exports for all of 2006, according to a report...

Waterways emerge winners in veto override of WRDA.
November 26, 2007... The Port of New Orleans soon could see an influx of more than $160 million now that Congress collected enough votes to override President Bush's veto of the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act of 2007. But $160 million is only a...

New Orleans's LaGrange to chair National Waterways Conference.(Conference news)
November 26, 2007... Gary LaGrange, president and chief executive of the Port of New Orleans, was elected chairman of the National Waterways Conference. LaGrange will lead the advocacy group as it attempts to educate the public about the importance of the...

Houston wins environmental award.
November 26, 2007... The Port of Houston won a third place environmental award for its creation of the Beneficial Users Group, a committee formed to address environmental issues associated with the Houston-Galveston Navigation Channel expansion project. The...

Insurance battle continues at Port of New Orleans.
November 26, 2007... The Port of New Orleans's two-year battle to get money from its insurance company is making repairs at damaged docks more expensive because the costs of building materials and labor continues to rise, the port argued in a recent court filing,...

EVA Air Cargo begins service to Houston.
November 26, 2007... Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport attracted additional air-cargo service from Taiwan-based EVA Air Cargo this month as the company began two weekly air-cargo flights between Houston and Taipei. The new service is routed...

Kitty Hawk shuts down operations.
November 26, 2007... Domestic cargo airline Kitty Hawk shut down its scheduled air and ground operations last month, succumbing to shifting market demands that had cut deeply into the carrier's business. Kitty Hawk, which was seeking to reorganize under Chapter...

UPS to increase rates.
November 26, 2007... UPS said it will raise rates for air express and U.S.-origin international shipping by an average of 4.9 percent next year. The increase for air express and international shipping is based on a 6.9 percent rise in the company's base rate...

Cargo-Go Shipping gears up for service out of Port Canaveral.
November 26, 2007... Florida automobile exporters will have a new, weekly option to serve Central America out of Port Canaveral. "By the end of November, Car-Go Shipping International will begin offering weekly, fixed-day departures between Port Canaveral,...