American Shipper

   GE Capital will participate in the U.S. Import-Export Bank’s Supply-Chain Finance Guarantee Program, which provides competitively priced working capital financing to suppliers of U.S. exporters, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises.    GE Capital joins Citibank and JP Morgan in participating in the bank’s program. Ex-Im Bank developed the program in response to capital needs […]

   Safmarine, Belgian subsidiary of A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, will discontinue service to the Mediterranean via joint hub of Tangiers and will replace it instead only with calls at Algeciras and Malaga.    In an advisory to customers, the carrier announced that the change was due to “dissatisfactory service levels” and specifically cited the “combination of […]

   Trucking and logistics provider Roadrunner Transportation Systems said it had a $7.2 million profit in the third quarter ending Sept. 30 compared to $4.4 million in the same period a year earlier      Revenue was $226.2 million for the third quarter compared to $163.7 million a year earlier.    The company it had $618,000 in […]

   “Occupy Oakland” protesters forced marine terminals at the Port of Oakland to shut down operations late Wednesday afternoon, the port authority said in a statement. “Maritime area operations will resume when it is safe and secure to do so,” it said.    More than 4,000 marchers showed up at the port’s gates in an […]

   Descartes Systems Group said Wednesday it has acquired InterCommIT, a Dutch provider of business-to-business integration-as-a-service.    InterCommIT enables electronic data interchange between 800 customers. Descartes said it will be able to add InterCommIT’s services to its logistics platform, while InterCommIT customers will have access to the 35,000 users of Descartes’ system.    “By adding […]

A fuel that is partially made by algae has been tested as part of a joint effort by the Departments of Defense and Transportation. Culture mixed with ultra low-sulphur diesel.

   Agistix, a Redwood City, Calif.-based transportation systems developer, launched a new application to provide visibility to “counter blindspots” in inbound, third-party and international shipment data that has historically not been captured by the software systems that shippers use to manage their supply chains and transportation operations.    The company said as supply chains continue […]

The online ship valuation service VesselsValue has added containerships to its vessel categories. It now values containerships from feedermax (500 TEUs) up to ultra-large container vessel (18,000 TEU) size.

   The North Carolina Ports Authority said Wednesday that Sallaum Lines is including calls in Wilmington, N.C. as part of its regular roll-on, roll-off service between the U.S. East Coast and West Africa.    The Imola Express began loading at the Port of Wilmington Wednesday for its third call. The ship will be used to […]

   Austrailian logistics company the Toll Group has named Grant Devonport as the company’s new chief financial officer.    Devonport, who has spent the last five years with Toll, was most recently divisional commercial manager for the Toll Global Resources Division. Prior to that, he spent two years as CFO at Toll New Zealand, where […]

   The liner carriers Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) and Zim and have agreed to a slot swap agreement on the intra-Europe trade between the Mediterranean and northern Europe. The two lines will exchange slots on MSC’s Israel Express service and Zim’s AME service from mid-November.    The revised rotations are: Israel Express: Haifa, Ashdod, Valencia, […]

   Seago Line, the intra-Europe specialist carrier of the A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, said Monday that it plans to raise rates on reefer shipments from Egypt to destinations in Europe from November through May.    “In response to rising costs associated with serving this segment, as well as financially unsustainable rate levels, Seago Line will be […]

   The logistics company Logwin said Thursday it has opened a new branch office in Hyderabad, the company’s ninth office in India.    Hyderabad is capital of Andhra Pradesh, and home to a large IT community and India’s pharmaceutical hub. The city is served by an international airport and inland container depot and has direct […]

   The global logistics and freight forwarding company Panalpina saw third quarter operating profit fall 9.5 percent, to roughly $50 million, on a 16.1 percent decline in revenue, to $1.8 billion.    Year-to-date, Panalpina’s operating profit reached $152.6 million, a huge swing from the more than $30 million the company lost in the first three […]

The National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revise its process for designating a U.S. agent.

Refrigerated containers that either passed through or originated in any Vietnamese port are being identified upon arrival at U.S. West Coast ports. Those that were worked on at Kat Lai will be isolated for special handling.

The Maritime Administration has released a study on the higher cost of U.S.-flag ships versus those registered in other countries; roughly 2.7 times the average for similar foreign-flag vessels.

   Vessel operating costs are expected to rise by 3.8 percent in 2011 and by another 3.7 percent in 2012, according to a new survey by international accountant and shipping consultant Moore Stephens.    The survey, based on responses from key players in the international shipping industry, predominantly shipowners and managers in Europe and Asia, […]

   The Grand Alliance carriers will this month pull one of their four services connecting Asia and Europe, according to a note from member Hapag-Lloyd on Monday.    GA lines, which also include NYK Line and OOCL, will pull their Loop D/EUD service from the Nov. 6 sailing. The service, according to American Shipper affiliate […]