American Shipper

This preseason forecast calls for 11 named storms, six hurricanes and two major hurricanes, a milder outcome than in recent years.

   The liner shipping companies APL, Hyundai, MOL (New World Alliance) and Evergreen have all left CMA CGM’s French Asia Line 1, which covers Europe-Middle East-Asia.    All four liner companies pulled out of the FAL 1 in late March and will complete their final voyage in early May with the CMA CGM Thalassa. For […]

   UPS pilots on Tuesday filed a petitioner’s brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, challenging the Federal Aviation Administration’s exclusion of cargo operations from new rules governing pilot duty and rest requirements.    “The FAA acted contrary to Congress’ mandate when the agency published new pilot duty and rest rules […]

   The U.S. Air Force has spent roughly $1 billion over seven years for a logistics management system which has gone belly up, according to recent statements from officials.    The Air Force is now trying to parse out systems that can be salvaged and develop a lesson plan for future investments to prevent repeat […]

   Southern Air Holdings today has taken ownership of its fourth B777 freight at Boeing’s headquarters in Everett, Wash.    Southern Air is the only ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) operator to fly the B777 freighter, enabling it to serve customers with fewer stops, shorter cargo delivery times and lower handling costs. These freighters […]

   UPS said it had a profit of $970 million in the first quarter, 6 percent more than in the first quarter of 2011.    First quarter revenue was $13.1 billion, 4.4 percent more than in the same 2011 period. Domestic package revenue was up 6.1 percent to $8 billion, international package revenue was up 2.3 […]

   The ocean carrier Maersk Line raised capacity on its weekly Mediterranean-to-West Africa WAF2 loop by increasing the size of the vessels.     Once the changes are complete, the carrier will have replaced five of the six vessels on the WAF2 and average ship capacity will have increased nearly 15 percent, from 2,225 TEUs to 2,554 […]

   The liner carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Thursday it plans to hike rates from Asia to the east coast of South America in mid-May.    The increase, $500 per TEU, is effective from May 15.

   Sea Star Line said this week that it has appointed Tropical Shipping veteran Bill Taylor to head its U.S. sales team as vice president.    Prior to joining Sea Star, Taylor held sales and leadership positions with international carriers CAST, Lykes Lines and CP Ships. He was most recently responsible for managing Tropical Shipping’s […]

   Third-party logistics services firm SBS Worldwide has appointed John Klausing to regional vice president of operations for the U.S. Midwest.    Klausing, a 30-year industry veteran, will be based at SBS’s Chicago office. “He will play a key role in implementing our global business development plan and ensuring that we meet growth targets in our […]

   Aspen Logistics has appointed Christopher Ticknor as its executive director of business development.    Ticknor will be responsible for leading Aspen’s work in brand recognition and drumming up new clients.    He started at Aspen in 2008 as marketing manager.    Aspen, a third-party logistics firm, operates about 2 million square feet of refrigerated and ambient warehousing […]

   Donjon Marine Co. has appointed John Noble as managing director of its U.K. operations.    Noble has worked in commercial shipping since 1962 when he joined HMS Conway, the pre-sea training school in the United Kingdom. He served as a deck officer in the British Merchant Marine sailing with shipping lines Blue Funnel and […]

   The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a $550,000 grant to Terminal Fluvial Andalucía, S.A. (Andalucia River Terminal or “TFA”) for a feasibility study to determine the technical and financial viability of a new inland river port along Colombia’s Magdalena River.    The feasibility study will also include the preparation of preliminary design […]

   The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission will take steps to begin the process of modernizing regulations for non-vessel-operating common carrier and ocean freight forwarder licensing, registration, and proof of financial responsibility when it meets next month, FMC Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky Jr. said Tuesday at the National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America’s conference in Hollywood, Fla.    “I […]

   CargoSmart, a shipping and logistics software as a service (SaaS) platform provider, has launched a new business processing outsourcing service for ocean carriers and logistics service providers.    The Virtual Business Center will monitor business activities with a new toolset and then manage documentation processes and sailing schedule maintenance for customers. The center digitizes […]

   Calogi, a Dubai-based Internet service portal offering global air cargo services, recently launched a new third-party logistics named c-Plus and a separate insurance offering.    c-Plus offers services to both 3PLs and their users by allowing customers to book and pay for transportation, warehousing, customs brokerage, insurance, road feeder, and packaging services in a single […]

Leonard D. Waterworth was appointed to executive director of the Port of Houston Authority during its regular monthly meeting Tuesday. He had served as interim executive director since Jan. 30.

   Maersk Line said Tuesday it has appointed David Zimmermann as vice president of North American sales, effective immediately.    Zimmermann replaces Bill Woodhour, who was recently promoted to head of North American trades at Maersk’s global headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark.    Zimmermann has been with Maersk for more than 22 years in a variety […]

The terminal operator COSCO Pacific said its operating profit grew 40.9 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2012 to $57 million.

   Pacer International and CRST International said Tuesday they have agreed to multi-market dedicated drayage agreements focused on driving intermodal drayage efficiencies and providing incremental capacity for Pacer.    CRST has formed a separate operating unit, CRST IMX, within its dedicated services subsidiary to provide the service. CRST IMX will market, sell, and operate its intermodal […]