Maritime

   The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission has received 35 ocean transportation intermediary license applications and changes for review.    The FMC received non-vessel-operating common carrier license applications from Cirrus International, Karachi, Pakistan (Umar F. Kazi, chief executive); Flo Logistics, League City, Texas (Bradley Louden, managing member); Intorvolca Logistic, Miami (Javier A. Volcanes, manager/member); Leon Export […]

   The Federal Maritime Commission said it will hold a meeting on June 18 where it will be briefed by “U.S. harbor trucking representatives on trucking trends and conditions” in open session and receive a staff briefing on economic and trade conditions in closed session.    The meeting begins at 10 a.m. at the commission’s […]

   It was the biggest news in the container shipping business for a year.    The world’s three largest container shipping companies — Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM — announced in June 2013 that they would enter into a long-term vessel sharing agreement (VSA) on all three of the major east-west container trades—Asia-Europe, […]

Container carriers experience another difficult year with soft demand, excess capacity.    2013 was another tough year for the liner shipping industry, with the container operations of 15 public companies examined by American Shipper losing an aggregate $530 million.    While some companies—most notably, the world’s largest container carrier Maersk Line, with an operating profit […]

   The peril of not declaring the value of cargo in a bill of lading was illustrated in a recent court decision (Outokumpu Stainless USA v. M/V Vegaland.  et al. U.S. District Court, S.D. Texas. No. 13-66. May 13.) that grew out of damage to a piece of equipment for a steel mill during an […]

   The P3 Network was an interesting concept, although unsettling to many shippers when first announced by the three largest liner carriers – Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM – earlier this year.     The three carriers, grappling with absorbing the next-generation mega-containerships to enter the world’s fleet, promised the P3 Network would […]

   In early June, Gene Seroka, APL’s former head of commercial in the Americas region, was officially appointed the new executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.    His selection by the L.A. City Council was applauded widely by industry representatives. He replaced Geraldine Knatz, who announced her retirement as L.A. port director last […]

   “We don’t want to see disruptions at the ports, but retailers are making sure they are prepared in case that happens,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

   Concerned about a possible strike at West Coast ports as the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers negotiate a new contract to replace their labor agreement that expires at the end of this month, the National Customs Brokers and Forwarders Association of America (NCBFAA) is asking the Federal Maritime Commission to consider procedures […]

   The Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT) in Port Said has seen around 50 ships head to other ports outside Egypt during recent weeks following industrial action in the form of increased absenteeism by the work force, resulting in reduced capacity.    For example, Hapag-Lloyd said that because of ongoing congestion at the terminal, it […]

   SeaIntel said schedule integrity by global container carriers “continues to improve, but is still significantly below last year’s performance.”    The consultant said global schedule reliability increased for the second consecutive month, as the global performance improved by 1.5 percentage points to 73.6 percent in April. Data from INTTRA shows that global container delivery […]

   The Federal Maritime Commission said the amendment to Agreement No. 012104 increases CMA CGM’s slot allocation, revises the number of vessels contributed by each party, and adds Savannah to the expected port rotation.

   Waldemar (Val) Poulsen has been named president and chief executive officer of Rickmers-Linie (America) Inc., based in Houston, effective July 1. Before joining Rickmers-Linie, Poulsen was director/country manager with Safmarine in Houston, responsible for the activities of the multipurpose division of Safmarine in the Americas.    He replaces Robert Sappio, who has been heading […]

    John Atkins will to succeed Devine as president of GCT USA, effective July 1. Atkins is currently the chief operating officer for GCT USA, and he has held successively senior positions since joining the company in 2002.

   The maritime law firm Chalos O’Connor LLP is closing, and its attorneys are moving to larger law firms.    K&L Gates announced last week that Michael G. Chalos has joined its New York office as a partner in the maritime practice. Previously the senior partner at Chalos O’Connor, Chalos is accompanied in his move […]

  The European Commission is allowing the P3 Network and G6 shipping alliances to move forward.   In a statement, Antoine Colombani, a spokesman for the Commission’s Competition Directorate said, “Members of all shipping alliances such as P3 or G6, to the extent that they do not benefit from an exemption, must themselves assess the […]

Jorge L. Quijano, chief executive officer of the Panama Canal Authority, said naval architects have created optimized designs that will allow ships carrying 14,000 TEUs to transit the new set of locks.

The country applied for WTO membership in April 2000. Trade ministers of WTO members officially approved Yemen’s accession on Dec. 4, 2013, during the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia.

   CSAV, which is in the process of merging with the German carrier Hapag-Lloyd, noted that the results “were obtained in the context of a 10.6-percent reduction in freight rates compared to the first quarter of 2013.”

   The vessel-sharing alliance has filed a discussion agreement with the Federal Maritime Commission that will allow them to discuss and determine whether to cooperate on trade lanes to and from the United States.