Gulf Shipper articles from September 2008

Gulf Shipper archives from September 2008

Shipping downturn?
September 1, 2008... Where in the world is the ocean shipping industry heading? The container sector posted better than 10 percent average growth every year between 2002 and 2006, then slowed to 9.7 percent last year. Growth in global container trade is expected to...

The high cost of distance: "China-facturing" no longer a sure bet.
September 1, 2008... BYLINE: LETICIA LOZANO More manufacturers looking at Mexico Nearly everything in U.S. and European stores today seems to carry a "Made In China" tag. The Asian giant, the world's factory, churns out everything from clothing to toys to...

Survey finds executives support expansion in North America.
September 1, 2008... North American manufacturing executives responding to a recent Deloitte LLP survey did so with surprising support for expansion of sale, research and manufacturing in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries, especially in the U.S. and...

Blurring the border.
September 1, 2008... BYLINE: RICHARD KNEE At the World Trade Bridge linking Laredo, Texas, with Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, trade is so brisk that there is talk of widening the gateway and expanding its operating hours. The growth "is definitely related to...

Former 'K' Line official Tom Burke chairs new Dubai Propeller Club.
September 1, 2008... Dubai Maritime City Authority recently signed a contract to be the official sponsor of the newest Propeller Club: the International Propeller Club, United Arab Emirates Chapter. The sponsorship ceremony was attended by John Ewing, chief...

Probe of corrupt dealings in Nigeria takes its toll on Panalpina.
September 1, 2008... BYLINE: BILL DIBENEDETTO It's a deadly combination for a company's bottom line: a souring economy coupled with a bribery and corruption probe. That's what Swiss logistics group Panalpina faces as it tries to get past damaging bribery...

Ex-Im Bank supports $850 million in US exports to Mexico.
September 1, 2008... The Export-Import Bank of the United States announced it is providing $850 million in loan guarantees to support exports of oil and gas field equipment and services to Pemex, Mexico's state-owned oil company. The financing includes a $150...

Corpus Christi gets new Venezuela service.
September 1, 2008... Miami-based breakbulk and project cargo carrier SCM Lines will add a monthly call at Corpus Christi to its regular Gulf service beginning in October or November, said Diego Cortes, project manager for Houston-based SCM Lines. The Gulf...

International Shipholding spurns merger offer.
September 1, 2008... Privately held Liberty Shipping Group broached the possibility of a merger with International Shipholding Corp. but was turned down, according to the Mobile Press-Register. SEC filings made public last month revealed the merger offer, according...

NOL, Hamburg group advance in Hapag-Lloyd bidding.
September 1, 2008... Neptune Orient Lines has confirmed that it is one of the two known bidders that have been invited to continue into the next phase of bidding for Hapag-Lloyd Container Lines. The other known bidder is a consortium of German interests led by...

Rickmers Houston arrives in Houston.
September 1, 2008... The Rickmers Houston, the 10th vessel to be added to Rickmers-Linie's Pearl String round-the-world service, arrived in Houston late last month. The geared, 30,000-deadweight-ton vessel will add capacity to and improve the frequency of the...

Local sourcing reduces logistics costs.
September 1, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Wal-Mart's plan to source more produce locally for its 2,500-plus Supercenters and 138 Neighborhood Markets could mean some big changes in its transportation and distribution networks, with new opportunities for...

Where's the green?
September 1, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN When the going gets environmental, shippers and carriers look hardest at the costs Shippers and their supply-chain service providers may be loudly embracing "green" and sustainability initiatives, but research...

Fuel costs: high and higher.
September 8, 2008... Oil and gas prices have been jumping up and down this summer, which makes it difficult for carriers and shippers to calculate freight rates fair enough to keep them both in business. High energy costs are prompting some shippers to move to...

Dredging neglected while billions collected.
September 8, 2008... BYLINE: David Biederman Diminishing draft, narrowing channels put trade at riskNew maritime coalition seeks to "firewall" Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund Chronic underfunding for maintenance and construction dredging is raising safety...

ProLogis builds in Juarez, Mexico.
September 8, 2008... Construction is under way on ProLogis Park Centro Industrial Juarez in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, including three buildings totaling some 500,000 square feet on property that also will make room for infrastructure and an additional six facilities...

Nuclear reactor components to be built at Port of Lake Charles.
September 8, 2008... The Port of Lake Charles will become the home of a facility that constructs components for new and modified nuclear reactors, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's office has announced. The module fabrication and assembly facility will be a joint...

Gulfport adopts hurricane evacuation policy.
September 8, 2008... The Port of Gulfport, Miss., has adopted a new policy that requires all tenants to evacuate equipment, including shipping containers, within 72 hours of a hurricane landing in "the port area," Port Director Don Allee said. "This policy for...

Sealed, but no kiss.
September 8, 2008... The first shoe has dropped. Customs and Border Protection has published a Federal Register notice advising that by Oct. 15, all import containers must have security seals that meet the standards set by the International Organization for...

Manufacturers, legislators urge 10+2 test.
September 8, 2008... The National Association of Manufacturers joined with a bipartisan group of 20 legislators in urging the Department of Homeland Security to conduct a pilot program on the proposed 10+2 rule. In January, Customs and Border Protection...

Intermarine reduces fuel surcharge.
September 8, 2008... Intermarine, the agent for Industrial Maritime Carriers and West Coast Industrial Express, has announced that the carriers will lower the bunker surcharges on their services to and from South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, starting on Sept....

Key House leader closely watching EU liner shift.
September 8, 2008... The chairman of the House Coast Guard and Transportation subcommittee said Congress will be watching closely to see whether the European Union's abolition of rate-setting conferences creates a need for changes in United States shipping...

Hapag-Lloyd earnings improve.
September 8, 2008... Second-quarter earnings for Hapag-Lloyd surged by nearly $115 million from a year ago, strengthening parent company TUI's hand in negotiations over the approaching sale of the world's fifth-largest container carrier. The German line said...

No passing zone.
September 8, 2008... BYLINE: ARI NATTER There may be overwhelming support for shoring up the Highway Trust Fund, but expect delays ahead The House of Representatives may have moved to plug the multibillion-dollar gap in the Highway Trust Fund by a...

Safe for now.
September 15, 2008... Hurricane Gustav turned out to be more inconvenience than catastrophe for New Orleans, with the eye going ashore 100 miles west to spare this storm-weary city the brunt of its wrath. Nonetheless, Gustav brought up all the angst and fear...

Gulf and East Coast ports banking on containers.
September 15, 2008... BYLINE: BILL MONGELLUZZO Threat of overcapacity lurks as import growth slows Gulf and East Coast ports continue to build and expand terminals to capitalize on expected growth in Asian trade, shipper dissatisfaction with West Coast...

Economic regions used by PIERS.
September 15, 2008... The economic regions used by PIERS' Global Intelligence Solutions, a sister company of Gulf Shipper, are the following: the Caribbean includes the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and smaller islands....

Gulf container exports log double-digit growth.
September 15, 2008... BYLINE: JANET NODAR Imports sag; exports take up slack Containerized exports led the charge during the 12-month period ending on June 30, increasing 17.6 percent in the Gulf region. Imports declined 2.9 percent during the same period,...

Corpus Christi promotes Brogan.
September 15, 2008... The Port of Corpus Christi Authority promoted Frank Brogan to the position of deputy port director for engineering, finance and administration. Brogan joined the port authority as deputy director of engineering services in September 1987 and...

Tampa Port Authority appoints Dubina security director.
September 15, 2008... The Tampa Port Authority has hired Mark Dubina to head the port's security operations. Dubina will bring more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, investigative expertise and other specialized training to his new position as director of...

That sinking feeling.
September 15, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER Many issues involved in choosing the right marine cargo insurance You have cargo on a ship that's caught in a big storm. You learn that some containers were severely damaged, or that some fell overboard. Or...

General average.
September 15, 2008... All parties share costs when there's an incident at sea Let's say you have cargo on a ship that runs aground. Or there's heavy weather that causes damage to the vessel and the loss of some cargo. Maybe the cargo falls off the ship. Or the...

Coast Guard Sector New Orleans investigate a sunken recreational vessel.
September 15, 2008... Boat crews from Coast Guard Sector New Orleans investigate a sunken recreational vessel in the Mississippi River near the Port of New Orleans during their first waterway patrol after Hurricane Gustav. The storm triggered massive evacuations...

Houston moves on Bayport cranes, terminal site study.
September 15, 2008... The Port Commission of the Port of Houston Authority at its regular meeting on Aug. 26 approved advertising for three electric cranes for the Bayport Container Terminal, and awarded more than $1 million for consulting services to prepare a site...

Hurricaned.
September 22, 2008... As this is written, ports in the Gulf of Mexico from Lake Charles to Houston are closed. The violent Category 2 Hurricane Ike sent a Texas-sized storm surge pushing up against beaches, wharves and wetlands from Mobile to Corpus Christi. ...

New ships for old.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: ROBERT R. FRUMP Project cargo space crunch expected to continue Dozens of new multipurpose vessels capable of carrying high, wide and heavy project cargoes are under construction and scheduled to come on line from this year...

Feeding the Russian bear.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: JANET NODAR Gulf-Russia trade lane busy despite political tensions With so much attention focused on the recent invasion of Georgia and the erosion of democracy under Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin and, now, Dmitry Medvedev,...

Logistics mergers lose steam.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN As freight volumes and the U.S. economy sag, some of the bloom has come off the rose of easy-money-fueled buyouts that were so popular in logistics just a few years ago. Growing signs that a U.S. recession could...

Mexico opens bidding on Punta Colonet port.
September 22, 2008... Mexico's Department of Communications and Transportation has opened the bidding process for construction of a large port at tiny Punta Colonet, located about 80 miles south of Ensenada on the country's Pacific coast. Mexico envisions a $4...

Mainfreight opens customs brokerage in Houston and Dallas.
September 22, 2008... International logistics provider Mainfreight has established a customs brokerage operation in addition to its freight forwarding services in Houston and Dallas. The new service, Mainfreight International Inc., will be available at Mainfreight's...

FMC puts ocean carrier, terminal agreements online.
September 22, 2008... The Federal Maritime Commission announced it will each week publish agreement filing notices that appear in the Federal Register on its Web site, www.fmc.gov. Under the Shipping Act, the commission is required to provide notice of the...

US to expand country-of-origin labeling for food.
September 22, 2008... The Food Safety and Inspection Service is seeking comments on bringing country-of-origin marking regulations into line with recent changes by the Agricultural Marketing Service. Both agencies are within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ...

The great Chinese takeout.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: ROSALIND MCLYMONT Beijing aggressively pursues Africa's natural resources and consumer markets To the consternation of U.S. trade officials, policy makers and private-sector trade groups, trade between Africa and China not only...

Chinese presence stirs resentment.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: ROSALIND MCLYMONT For all the money, trade and investment it brings, the overwhelming Chinese presence is beginning to irk African workers and entrepreneurs.  "Africa is an outlet for China's excess population. Chinese...

Southern African countries create FTA.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: ROSALIND MCLYMONT Twelve members of the Southern African Development Community launched a free-trade area in August, creating one of the largest free-trade zones on the African continent. Covering some 250 million people and a $430...

Africa: An untapped market.
September 22, 2008... BYLINE: J. JOSEPH GRANDMAISON Most Americans reading this column probably aren't doing business in Africa. That is a shame because export opportunities in Africa are real and growing, and U.S. companies ought to be entering these markets...

Zim Nordwinter calls at Tampa on maiden voyage.
September 22, 2008... Zim's new container vessel, the 3,586-TEU Nordwinter, was delivered in July and has been deployed in Zim's Asia-Gulf Express Service, which calls at Tampa, Mobile and Houston in the Gulf.

Mobile Container Terminal 'soft' open under way.
September 22, 2008... Brian Clark, project director at Mobile Container Terminal, said the new facility at the Port of Mobile is set to open on Sept. 22 and receive its first scheduled vessel, the Zim Canada, on Oct. 2. A weekly call from Zim's existing...

Lake Charles pilots recommend draft restrictions.
September 22, 2008... The Lake Charles Pilots recommended earlier this month that the draft on the Calcasieu Ship Channel be restricted to 38 feet in fresh water until the channel can be dredged back to project depth and width. The channel is authorized to be...

How Ike was bigger than Katrina.
September 29, 2008... Storm surge, heavy rains and high winds from Hurricane Ike caused one of the biggest power outages on record in the United States. Ten days after the Category 2 storm barreled ashore on Sept. 13, more than 1 million people from Houston to the...

Ike smacks the Gulf: Galveston is hardest hit but poised to bounce back.
September 29, 2008... BYLINE: JANET NODAR Overall cost of 2008 storm season estimated to top $1 billion It's been a costly couple of months. Just as the Gulf region was cleaning up after Fay and Gustav, Hurricane Ike tackled the ports of Freeport, Houston,...

State of the Port of New Orleans: The bare necessity: "Money".
September 29, 2008... What does the Port of New Orleans need most? There's a one-word answer, according to port Executive Director and Chief Executive Gary La Grange: "Money." In his annual State of the Port address at the New Orleans World Trade Club this...

Ambitious new plan would reconfigure Gulfport.
September 29, 2008... The Port of Gulfport has asked for public comments on an ambitious new master plan that would substantially reconfigure the port, according to the Biloxi Sun-Herald and WLOX-TV. Responding to heated public dislike of an earlier master plan that...

Tampa commissioners approve new oil terminal contract.
September 29, 2008... The Board of Commissioners of the Tampa Port Authority approved a contract with Florida-based International Oil Terminals -- Tampa LLC, an affiliate of the International Oil Trading Company group, according to a statement issued by the port....

Crowley Jr. to receive America and the Sea Award.
September 29, 2008... Thomas B. Crowley Jr., chairman, president and chief executive of Crowley Maritime Corp., will be honored with Mystic Seaport's third annual America and the Sea Award at a gala dinner in New York City on Oct. 29. Mystic Seaport President...

Delays and high costs hamper RFID adoption.
September 29, 2008... BYLINE: WILLIAM HOFFMAN Mandates, standardization and consolidation expected to boost technology's growth Stung by the failure of past promises, proponents of radio-frequency identification technology aren't proclaiming 2008 "the year...

New technology may be cleaner, better, faster.
September 29, 2008... BYLINE: PAUL T. ROSYNSKY Ports must balance costs and needs New technology can help port operations become cleaner, better and faster -- but high costs and potential labor problems mean port officials have to think long and hard before...