Maritime

   JF Hillebrand Group AG, a third-party logistics specialist in the beverage industry, has acquired Houston-based Satellite Logistics Group.    Terms of the deal were not disclosed.    SLG specializes in reverse logistics solutions and related services for the beer and beverage industry, including its Kegspediter keg management, LogiTrax transportation management, and EcoBev beverage disposal. SLG’s […]

   The World Trade Organization released a final report this week backing the European Union’s ban on trade in products of commercial seal hunts. In 2010, Canada and Norway initiated a WTO challenge against the European Union’s ban.

   United Arab Shipping Company is introducing two new feeder services to improve its service in Asia.    “The dedicated and direct services will run weekly, covering Japan, Central and South China, Thailand, and Vietnam effective (at the) end of November 2013,” the company said. “These new services will provide UASC customers with expanded coverage […]

   The company said transported volume reached 493,512 TEU in the third quarter of 2013, an increase of 5.6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2013 and of 0.8 percent  compared to the third quarter of 2012.

   The lawsuit claims the commission, which was created in 1953 to fight corruption, “has gone off the rails to pursue a future role for itself that is well outside the purposes and goals that led to its creation.”

   CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping company, said it had a profit attributable to shareholders of $70 million in the third quarter, compared to $363 million in the same 2012 period.    Revenues in the third quarter were $4.1 billion, down 2.1 percent from the $4.2 billion reported in the same period […]

   The investment banking firm Jefferies cautioned, however, that it thinks “most of the cost savings potential may have been exhausted, particularly after a steep cut in fuel consumption in 2013.”

   The European Commission said it has “opened formal antitrust proceedings against several container liner shipping companies to investigate whether they engaged in concerted practices, in breach of EU antitrust rules.”

   The U.S. International Trade Commission voted to investigate imports of certain windshield wipers — “flat blades” or “beam blades,” as referred to by the automotive industry — and related components.    The investigation is based on a complaint filed by Trico Products Corp. of Rochester Hills, Mich., on Oct. 21. The complaint alleges patent […]

   The U.S. and Moroccan governments Thursday signed a Trade Facilitation Agreement with a focus on improving transparency of customs practices between the two countries. The deal builds on the United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement.

   The U.S. Department of Transportation announced that a $275 million loan under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act (TIFIA) has been issued to Georgia to build new reversible lanes along Interstates 75 and 575.    The 29.7-mile-long project will relieve congestion along the heavily trafficked corridor during morning and evening peak periods, DOT said. […]

   A Port of Cleveland official said the service will be the “fastest and greenest route” between Europe and North America’s heartland, allowing regional companies to potentially ship goods four days faster than using routes via East Coast ports.

   Paul N “Chip” Jaenichen, the acting head of the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd), told the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that if he is made the permanent Maritime Administrator he intends to focus on identifying ways to revitalize the U.S. Merchant Marine.    At a nomination hearing on Thursday, Jaenichen said, […]

Transpacific Stabilization Agreement members are adopting a two-step “guideline” rate increase that, when combined, would hike freight rates $500 per 40-foot container in December and January.

   The Rotterdam Maasvlakte I terminal will modify five of its existing post-Panamax cranes so they can reach across 23 rows of containers and accommodate the latest generation of ultra-large container ships.

   The Alliance for the Great Lakes is raising the alarm over plans to ship tar sands crude oil on the Great Lakes. In addition to supporting fisheries and tourism, many cities get their drinking water from the Great Lakes.

   Containership owner Seaspan Corp. said this week that it plans to sell 3.5 million shares of Class A common stock that will be priced at $22 per share.    Seaspan, which operates a fleet of 71 ships that it charters to major liner companies, said it will receive net proceeds of approximately $73.5 million […]

   The organization has further postponed the start of a public hearing about adding longshore workers in the Port of New York and New Jersey from Nov. 25 to a yet-to-be-named date in December.

   Drewry says the most recent edition of its Carrier Performance Insight report “revealed a disappointing drop in performance for both ship-level and container-level reliability.”    The London-based consultant and publisher, which compares actual with estimated arrival times of containerships at eight ports around the world including Los Angeles/Long Beach and Norfolk, found reliability dipped […]

   The P3 Network carriers – Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping Co. and CMA CGM – have started sharing details of their proposed vessel-sharing agreement with U.S., European and Chinese regulatory authorities.    The three carriers are Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, in terms of size among the world’s liner carrier fleets. They don’t make decisions […]