What this past year has taught the shipping industry is just how powerful unionized dock labor on both coasts has become in the United States and how much of the country’s economy it holds in a tight grip. These unions — namely the International Longshoremen’s Association on the East and Gulf coasts and […]
Suez routings to U.S. East Coast increase with bigger, more efficient ships. By Chris Dupin As work continues on the expansion of the Panama Canal, fuel has gotten extremely expensive and big containerships very common. One of the results is a growing amount of cargo moving between East Asia and North America’s east coast […]
Switching product from one form of transportation to another is seen by many as a solution to the equipment shortage in parts of the country. American grain is one of those exports that increasingly fills containers which would otherwise leave the country empty.
The Port of Savannah soared into prominence in the container shipping business back in 1984, when Malcom McLean, then head of United States Lines, made the Georgia seaport, along with New York, one of the two “load centers” for his new “round the world” service operated with a dozen 4,246-TEU “Econships,” vessels designed with […]
If the act of swiping photos left and right or instantly maximizing Web pages with your fingertips feels blasé, it’s probably important to point out that all these features on your mobile devices were really only brought into the public consciousness a decade ago. Call it the Minority Report effect.
In a 7-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with a homeowner who said his floating home was not a vessel and therefore not subject to arrest under maritime law. (Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Fla. No. 11-625. Jan. 15.) The majority opinion authored by Justice Stephen Breyer concluded a structure does […]
In a summary order, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a 2011 decision by the District Court for the Southern District of New York confirming an arbitration award issued by a panel of the Society of Maritime Arbitrators. (NYKCool A.B. v. Pacific Fruit Inc. 2nd Cir. 11-4246-cv. Jan. 16.) The arbitration panel […]
President Obama announced in his State of the Union address that his administration would soon launch talks with the European Union on a transatlantic free trade pact. U.S. and EU tariffs are low – 5.2 percent for the goods entering the European Union, 3.5 percent in the United States – but the sheer volume […]
There was no clear market share shift between large and small non-vessel-operating common carriers in 2011 with regard to volume. Some large NVOs grew sizably, while others lost volume, with no apparent pattern emerging. What remains is a severely fragmented market, particularly in the context that NVOs collectively compete against liner carriers. Related […]
Forget the Great Wall of China and mighty Amazon River, NASA has posted an image on its Global Climate Change Website that shows global shipping routes can be seen from space because of the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted by ships traveling along them. “Just how much shipping contributes to overall NOx emissions remains […]
The U.S. Department of Justice in December extracted $45 million plus interest from Japan-based Toyo Ink SC Holdings Co. Ltd. and affiliated entities to settle allegations they knowingly failed to pay antidumping and counterveiling duties meant to protect U.S. firms from unfair competition.
After more than 35 years in the air cargo industry, Ram Menen, the head of cargo at Emirates Airline, is calling it quits. In taking early retirement, he’s leaving an industry he helped shape and grow, marked most notably by his career leading Emirates SkyCargo from its infancy in 1985 to one of the […]
By Eric Kulisch Several dozen freight industry professionals involved in container shipping met in Chicago last summer to discuss ways to increase exports by ocean container. A big part of the discussion revolved around opportunities and challenges associated with exporting agricultural products. Analysts, such as Moffatt & Nichol Chief Economist Walter Kemmsies, have […]
In fiscal year 2012, ended Sept. 30, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers processed more than $2.3 billion in trade and 25 million containers (ocean boxes, and intermodal containers crossing from Mexico and Canada). The value of imports and the volume of inbound containers increased 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively, from the prior […]
David Aguilar is retiring at the end of March as head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The Department of Homeland Security was a bit sloppy in the title it used for Aguilar in a press release describing his career achievements and thanking him for his service. The statement referred to Aguilar as […]
By Walter Kemmsies, chief economist, Moffatt & Nichol Ports have always had to contend with increasing urbanization that impacts freight moving through them. This is likely to worsen significantly given demographic trends in place.
Proximity to West Florida port is key attraction for LNG equipment maker. By Chris Dupin The natural gas industry in the United States is booming and dozens of shipping terminals that were once looking at re-gasifying liquefied natural gas arriving on tankers are now revising their plans and converting those facilities into terminals that instead […]
By Andrea Appell, director at BPE Global When developing the scope of your ICP, ensure that it’s focused specifically on trade-related responsibilities, yet scalable to your company’s global operations…
Speed is “an underestimated factor in the current supply-demand balances in shipping,” said Petter Haugen, an industry analyst at DNB Bank in Oslo. Speaking late last year at a conference organized by Marine Money on the subject of slow steaming (or “speed optimization,” his preferred term), Haugen said high bunker costs have turned […]
By Eric Kulisch The Union Pacific Railroad has taken several steps in the past year to increase capacity on its network for agricultural products, many of which are destined to ports for export to other countries, a member of the company’s marketing staff explained at a major transportation conference in Washington last month. […]
