American Shipper

   Paris-based infrastructure firm Meridiam has hired former U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as a senior adviser.

   ZIM says it is planning changes that will extend coverage and improve service between ports in the U.S. Gulf and East Coast with South America, the Caribbean and Central America.    As of mid-June, the company said, it will offer the following fixed-day services in cooperation with MSC: North-South Express Service (XNS). Eight 7,000-TEU […]

   Starting Friday, Cargolux will add a frequency to its twice-weekly freighter service between Hong Kong and Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio.    According to officials, shippers will gain more access to the U.S. base for a number of international fashion companies. Cargolux will now serve the Columbus market on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. […]

   Amerijet International will begin domestic services July 7 from air cargo hubs at Rickenbacker International Airport in Ohio and Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Nevada.    As part of its U.S. growth strategy, these hubs will serve Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Newark and Atlanta with Boeing 767 freighter service. Amerijet […]

   Descartes Systems Group has unveiled a driver’s license verification solution linked up with the United Kingdom’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.    Company officials say the online service will allow clients to easily show the government that their drivers are compliant with regulations.   “All UK employers need to ensure that their drivers hold […]

Vilsack    U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has cited recent improvements to expanding Mexico’s consumer market to American agricultural products.    Mexico’s expanded import ruling to allow increased potato imports from the United States went into effect Monday. The country has also recently announced the expansion of U.S. beef shipments, with a potential market value […]

   Air Canada completed its first flight using the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner on Sunday, landing the AX7008 at Toronto Pearson International Airport with 100 employees on board.    Air Canada has ordered 37 more Boeing 787s, which will be delivered through 2019.

   The U.S. Government Accountability Office on Monday denied a protest by Inchcape Shipping Services of a U.S. Navy contract awarded to MLS-Multinational Logistics Services Ltd. for maritime support services. Inchape had argued that the award was improper because MLS made a key personnel change following the close of discussions and that the award violates […]

   The Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO on Monday approved changes to the Safety of Life at Sea convention that will require verification of container weights as a condition for loading packed export containers aboard ships. 

   Clients of the Export-Import Bank of the United States say the bank is doing its job, and improving their ease of business, according to survey results released Monday by the bank.    In the survey of more that 2,100 small business customers, the bank said, 95 percent would recommend Ex-Im Bank’s services to another […]

   An initial public offering of stock in Hapag-Lloyd is anticipated in 2015, according to executives at TUI, the German tourism company that is the former parent company of the container shipping company, which remains one of its largest shareholders, along with the City of Hamburg and Kuhne Maritime.    Updating securities analysts on TUI’s […]

   A pamphlet was officially released at the 93rd session of the International Maritime Organization’s Maritime Safety Committee in London on Tuesday to offer guidance to vessel operators on how to safely navigate the busy Straits of Malacca and Singapore.    “The Safe Passage: The Straits of Singapore and Malacca” pamphlet is the result of […]

   The Israeli container shipping company ZIM says it has finalized a financial restructuring plan that will leave it “strongly positioned for growth.”

   As part of the 1,500 projects it expects to be completed this year, Union Pacific Railroad will invest $39.5 million to upgrade a rail line in Nebraska.    The project, which is expected to deliver by the middle of July, includes the installation of 44 miles of new rail, replacement of 115,000 railroad ties, […]

   The Georgia Ports Authority on Monday agreed to an $86.5 million purchase of four new ship-to-shore cranes and 20 new rubber-tired gantry cranes, the authority said.

   The Maritime Administration has reorganized its Office of National Security into the Office of Strategic Sealift with three areas of focus — maritime workforce, and federal and commercial sealift, according to a MarAd press release. 

   During the first quarter, Avianca Holdings experienced a 6.7-percent increase in cargo revenues, compared to the same period last year, as total operating revenues for the company dropped by 1.7-percent, year-over-year, to $1.1 billion.    Despite a 3.3-percent rise in passenger traffic, Avianca experienced a 2.2-percent decline, year-over-year, in passenger revenue due to lower […]

   TNT Express has received regulatory approval to sell its Netherlands-based fashion arm to a consortium of Netlog Group and Belspeed.    The terms of the deal, which was first announced March 11, have not been disclosed. TNT is currently integrating its fashion segments in the UK and Ireland with TNT Express.    In the […]

   The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach both saw double-digit import container growth year-over-year in April.

   The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Tuesday on a major piece of water infrastructure legislation that potentially could lead to $12 billion worth of maintenance and modernization for ports and inland waterways, as well as flood protection and coastal restoration. The spending blueprint provides a big increase in resources for dredging […]