Gulf Shipper articles from September 2007

Gulf Shipper archives from September 2007

A Chery good fit.
September 3, 2007... U.S. car manufacturers have been scrambling unsuccessfully for years to hold onto market share, but Asian carmakers have been the only ones to realize gains. There is some speculation, though, about what makes a foreign car foreign anymore,...

New day dawns for Louisiana river pilots.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Pilot associations rebuild after Katrina. Pilotage Fee Commission oversees 'transparent' surcharges and tariffs. Hurricane Katrina helped to usher in historic changes for the Associated Branch Pilots and the...

Sea Star Lines promotes Emery, LaGoy.
September 3, 2007... Sea Star Lines announced the promotion of two management employees who will help to lead the company's entry into logistics and its Puerto Rico trade. John Emery, a six-year employee of Sea Star, was named senior vice president of Spectrum...

Saathoff earns port manager award.
September 3, 2007... Port Freeport's managing director has earned a professional port manager certificate from the American Association of Port Authorities, the port announced. Phyllis Saathoff became the 60th port executive to earn the certificate since the...

Ports America gets CFO.
September 3, 2007... Ports America hired Chet Popkowski as its chief financial officer, bringing on board a certified public accountant with experience in the maritime trade. Popkowski most recently served as a financial consultant to the chief financial officer at...

Lindell, Dolan join Tampa port board.
September 3, 2007... A former car dealership owner and a bank executive will occupy two vacant seats on the Port of Tampa Bay commission, the port announced. Carl Lindell Jr. and Brian Dolan were appointed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and approved by the...

Feds send more money to ports.
September 3, 2007... The Sabine-Neches River region of Texas, which includes the ports of Port Arthur and Beaumont, received $6 million in additional federal security funds last month as the Department of Homeland Security announced a $110 million boost to its Port...

Averitt opens logistics center near Mexico border.
September 3, 2007... Averitt Express has opened a supply-chain service center at Pharr, Texas, just four miles from the Mexican border. The center will offer a wide range of services, from inland transportation management to full-service warehousing and...

Trade Tech designs program to meet Mexico's 24-hour rule.
September 3, 2007... Trade Tech has introduced a new Internet-based program to help shippers meet the 24-hour advance manifest rule for cargo moving to Mexico. Dubbed the Mexico Cargo Security Filing Solution, the program electronically sends manifest information...

Boasso America purchase nears.
September 3, 2007... Tampa-based Quality Distribution Inc., a bulk transportation service provider, is close to purchasing Louisiana-based Boasso America for $60 million, Quality Distribution announced. The acquisition will bring together one of the largest...

Calderon puts focus on infrastructure.
September 3, 2007... BYLINE: Alan M. Field The overland corridor between Mexico and the U.S. is not the only trade alternative at work in Mexico. For several years, there have been predictions that ports on Mexico's Pacific Coast could provide an alternative...

As sea grass grows, so will Port Manatee.
September 3, 2007... Port Manatee has successfully completed a sea grass mitigation program resulting in the transplanting of more than five acres of sensitive marine vegetation and the creation of another 20 acres throughout Tampa Bay, the port announced. The...

Beaumont dedicates command center, memorial.
September 3, 2007... In ceremonies at the Port of Beaumont last month, Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, officially dedicated a new Command and Control Center and a massive ship's propeller that will serve as a memorial to the Southeast Texas maritime industry. The center...

Southwest gets top rating -- and an award.
September 3, 2007... Southwest Airlines won its 13th Quest for Quality award from Logistics Management magazine as it took top honors in on-time performance, value and customer service categories. The award is based on a survey of more than 2,000 shippers who...

Moving inland and up.
September 10, 2007... Port congestion has moved from being a purely West Coast concern to a challenge facing most big-city ports on every coast. Port congestion isn't about berth space. It's usually about the overland traffic in and out of the port. Clogged highways...

Building bridges.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Bill Mongelluzzo Will citizens support infrastructure improvement? The deadly collapse of the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis was a poignant reminder that the nation's infrastructure is in danger of crumbling. But days...

No let-up in hot project cargo market.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar  Global sourcing pressures supply chain The project cargo boom continues to keep Gulf carriers and freight forwarders extremely busy. "There are just a tremendous amount of projects on the books," said Jerry...

Heavy duty.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Project cargoes move inland by barge Turbines, generators, reactors and other pieces of project cargo become bigger, heavier and more awkward every year, creating hurdles for ocean and land carriage. Discharge...

Laying it all out.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Globalization affects project cargo at ports New sourcing patterns have changed how project cargo flows through ports. "I can remember projects where people needed acres of space to see all the pieces," said Robert...

Heavy lifters add capacity.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar New service opens Houston office Project cargo is growing, literally as well as figuratively. The generators, turbines, reactors and other pieces often built on one side of the globe and moved to the other side have...

Maritime industry a boon to US economy.
September 10, 2007... Deep-draft seaports and seaport-related businesses added nearly $2 trillion to the U.S. economy and generated about 8.4 million jobs last year, a new study found. The study was conducted by Martin Associates on behalf of the American...

New leases brighten outlook at the Port of New Orleans.
September 10, 2007... The Port of New Orleans has approved three deals that will bring more vessels and railcars to the Crescent City. The largest is a six-year lease agreement with Seaboard Marine that calls for the Miami-based ocean carrier to occupy space at...

Houston to spend $25 million on projects.
September 10, 2007... The Port of Houston Authority Commission approved more than $25 million in construction contracts, including $2.1 million to expand Bayport Container Terminal's main gate. The expansion is needed because Bayport is handling more cargo than...

FESCO offers Houston-Russia connection.
September 10, 2007... FESCO North America will begin calling at the Port of Houston weekly through a new service connecting North America with eastern Russia. The service is offered as part of FESCO North America's purchase of ESF Euroservice, a Baltic feeder...

Industrial Maritime Carriers to hike rates.
September 10, 2007... New Orleans-based Intermarine, managing agent for Industrial Maritime Carriers, announced a general rate increase for all services to and from South America, effective Sept. 14. The company said the rate hike, which will boost bulk rates by...

US-to-Asia wastepaper shipping rates increase.
September 10, 2007... Shipping lines that carry U.S. exports to Asia have increased their freight rates for wastepaper for the second time this year. The Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement, a discussion group of 10 carriers in the trade between the...

Intermarine relocates Houston office.
September 10, 2007... Intermarine's office in Houston has a new address: 16801 Greenspoint Park Drive, Suite 200, Houston, Texas, 77060. The relocation of the ocean carrier's office resulted in a change in phone number to (281) 885-3500; the fax number is (281)...

Pinto Realty and ING acquire piece of Jacintoport.
September 10, 2007... More than 1,000 acres of the Jacintoport Industrial Park along the Houston Ship Channel were sold last month to a joint venture of Pinto Realty Partners and ING Clarion Ltd. The price of the purchase was not disclosed. About 432 acres of...

Scan-all law raises ire of shippers.
September 10, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter If opponents cannot turn back the tide on the U.S. policy of examining every cargo container destined for U.S. ports aboard ships and jets, it is possible the world's major ocean cargo carriers will refuse to carry...

New Orleans port commission regroups.
September 10, 2007... Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco last month appointed John J. Fay commissioner at the Port of New Orleans. He replaces John Kallenborn as one of four Orleans Parish members of the regional board, which oversees port operations in Orleans,...

Crowley honors two employees.
September 10, 2007... Crowley Maritime Corp. honored two senior employees, awarding them the Thomas Crowley Trophy, a recognition given to the company's top performers. Charlie Dominguez, vice president of sales and marketing for Latin America, and Jerry Dowd,...

Sea Star promotes Fox and Perlmutter.
September 10, 2007... Jacksonville-based Sea Star Lines promoted two employees to help lead sales in Puerto Rico and direct information technology within the company. Carl Fox, a four-year employee of Sea Star, was named senior vice president of sales,...

Dry bulk rates head up.
September 17, 2007... Capacity shortages abound among certain fleets other than the container market: roll-on roll-off vessels, all-reefer vessels, and even multipurpose vessels for breakbulk and project cargo. Now comes the shortages in the dry bulk fleet;...

Ports moving ahead: Rita's influence still felt.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Janet Nodar Port of Lake Charles Hurricane Rita caused about $3 million in damage at the Port of Lake Charles. "We had a fair amount of damage to our physical plant," said Adam McBride, port executive director. The port lost...

'Homegrown' American companies learn to export.
September 17, 2007... BYLINE: Rose Horowitz Public-private partnerships show the way Many states spend more resources on bringing in foreign direct investment than they do on assisting their homegrown American companies to export," said Leslie Schweitzer,...

Tenn-Tom channel brings in new business.
September 17, 2007... A host of maritime executives recently defended the 232-mile Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway that links the Tennessee and Tombigbee rivers, the Mobile (Ala.) Press Register reported. During an annual trade meeting, maritime executives praised the...

Crowley goes green.
September 17, 2007... At the end of last month, Crowley Trucking Inc. announced that it joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership, a voluntary collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the freight industry designed to increase energy...

Texas-South Pacific capacity dwindles.
September 17, 2007... Air-cargo capacity on routes between Texas and the South Pacific will be limited this winter, resulting in higher rates and early bookings for freight destined for Australia and New Zealand, an executive in the air-cargo industry predicted. ...

Bayport expansion on fast track.
September 17, 2007... The Port of Houston's new Bayport Container Terminal has been such a raging success that a planned phased expansion will have to proceed sooner than expected, the Houston Chronicle reported. Port Authority Chairman Jim Edmonds said initial...

Alabama port authority sells land.
September 17, 2007... Boyd Bros. Transportation Inc., a Clayton, Ala.-based trucking firm, will purchase 17.7 acres of the former International Paper property from the Alabama State Port Authority, the Mobile Press-Register reported. The trucking firm plans to...

St. Bernard Port handles huge reactor unit.
September 17, 2007... Associated Terminals performed a 500-metric-ton lift at St. Bernard Port, La., late last month. Officials said it was the largest lift ever conducted by Associated Terminals at the port. The stevedoring company unloaded an HDS reactor unit...

New Orleans, Tampa win AAPA awards.
September 17, 2007... The Tampa Port Authority and the Port of New Orleans earned top honors from the American Association of Port Authorities for projects they undertook this year in environmental improvement and facilities engineering. Tampa won the 2007...

LNG safety.
September 24, 2007... With all the liquefied natural gas facilities under construction in the Gulf of Mexico, every resident and business along the coast needs to review the issue of LNG security. Most of the controversy surrounding LNG facilities has circulated...

Developers vs. breakbulk.
September 24, 2007... BYLINE: Peter T. Leach Puerto Rico Ports Authority's plans to relocate breakbulk operations to Ponce from San Juan spark protests Management and labor in the Port of San Juan have teamed up to fight an attempt by the Puerto Rico Ports...

Chinese officials take fact-finding trip to South Louisiana.
September 24, 2007... A delegation of nine Chinese officials visited the Port of South Louisiana this month to investigate how the Asian country could increase trade with the Gulf region and improve its inland waterway system. The delegation was given a...

Port of Tampa receives $10.4 million.
September 24, 2007... The Port of Tampa will begin planning the expansion of its Hooker's Point Terminal after Florida Gov. Charlie Crist allocated $10.4 million in state funds to the growing port. Tampa won the money as part of a statewide $50 million port...

Houston to get a 'green' helping hand.
September 24, 2007... Hoping to keep its ship channel clean and to offer Harris County, Texas, residents a new community service program, the Port of Houston has launched the Clean and Green Program. Under the program, residents required to perform community...

Gulfport restoration funding plan comes under fire.
September 24, 2007... A plan to use $600 million from a Hurricane Katrina homeowners' assistance program to help the Port of Gulfport rebuild its infrastructure is being criticized by several advocacy groups, the Associated Press reported. The Mississippi...

Port of Corpus Christi and Altobaso sign fruit deal.
September 24, 2007... The Port of Corpus Christi has signed a contract with a Guatemalan fruit exporter that could result in more than 40,000 tons of melons passing through the port's cold-storage facility, the Corpus Christi Times-Caller reported. The deal,...

Unsafe bridge to come down.
September 24, 2007... A decaying 48-year-old bridge that carries railcars across the inner harbor to the Port of Corpus Christi will be removed because it threatens the safety of workers and the business of the port, the Corpus Christi Times-Caller reported. In...

Port of New Orleans artist, John T. Scott, dies.
September 24, 2007... John T. Scott, a New Orleans art professor and Port of New Orleans commissioned artist, died this month. He was 67. Scott, a product of the city's Ninth Ward and a Xavier University graduate, became a port-commissioned artist in 1996 when...

Mexican trucks allowed to operate in US.
September 24, 2007... BYLINE: Ari Natter A federal appeals court has refused to block a pilot program to allow as many as 100 Mexican trucking companies to operate throughout the U.S. during the next year, but not everyone is booing the news. "Having to...

Reversing the flow: The challenge of recall logistics.
September 24, 2007... BYLINE: Bill DiBenedetto Any supply-chain manager can empathize with his counterparts at Mattel, the toymaker that's recalled more than 19 million Chinese-made toys for safety reasons. Regular logistics can be difficult. "Reverse...

As dollar weakens, US exports increase.
September 24, 2007... BYLINE: William Armbruster This has been a transitional year for container shipping on the U.S. East Coast. Exports are up, while imports are at best stagnant. Growth in Asian exports has helped offset a decline in cargo from Europe. New...