Shipping

   U.S. steel imports increased in November compared to October by 2 percent, according to preliminary government data analyzed by the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS).    “Steel arrivals continue to limp ahead with demand essentially unchanged when the November imports were ordered,” said AIIS President David Phelps in a statement. “Both NAFTA totals […]

   David Anderton has been promoted to the newly created position of assistant director of strategic planning and development at Port Everglades.    “David’s diverse experience and background in planning, development, grants writing and administration and state/federal legislative processes make him the ideal choice for this new position as Port Everglades begins to implement its […]

   TSD Logistics, a provider of transportation services to the tire and rubber industry, has appointed Ryan Berry to vice president of business development.    Berry will be responsible for the overall management of Texarkana, Texas-based TSD’s sales, including partnerships with new and existing customers. He will also lead TSD’s efforts to implement new services to […]

APL, the largest container carrier in Oakland, said last month it will move its operations in Oakland from GGCT to the adjacent Oakland International Container Terminal (OICT), berths 57-59, which is already operated by SSA Marine.

   Washington-based fresh produce shipper organization United Fresh has promoted Miriam Wolk to vice president of membership and marketing.    She will lead marketing efforts to drive company participation. She will also continue to direct programs and outreach initiatives that she managed as senior director of membership. Wolk joined United Fresh in July 2008.

   Hapag-Lloyd said its Med Canada Service (MCA) will resume calls at Lisbon.    In October an eastbound call at the Portuguese capital was added to the service’s itinerary. Shortly thereafter calls were suspended due to labor strike actions in Lisbon.    The company said the strike has been called off and eastbound calls at Lisbon will restart with the […]

   Baltic Reefer Group Ltd. and the Seatrade group of companies, operators of breakbulk refrigerated vessels, said they had established a new joint venture that will operate under the name of Reefer Alliance.    “This will maintain the parties’ ability to provide competitive and commercially attractive specialized reefer services in response to the competition of the […]

   A survey of ship managers finds that low freight rates and a challenging market are their top concerns as they enter 2013.    The survey from the International Ship Manager’s Association, or InterManager, found half citing freight rates and the market situation as an important issue. Thirty percent cited the availability of professional and competent […]

   Hapag-Lloyd said it will offer a new weekly service to Cap Haitien, Haiti, under a connecting carrier agreement with Frontier Line.    The service will offer a weekly connection with four days transit time from the port of Cartagena, Colombia.

   Eric Martin-Neuville has been named the new chief operating officer of Geodis Wilson.    He takes over from Fernando Gea, who’s retiring.    Martin-Neuville joined the Geodis Group in 1985 and, as well as holding the position of managing director in France for many years, spent a considerable time working for the group in Asia-Pacific. […]

   A team of five salvage experts boarded the grounded drilling unit Kulluk earlier Wednesday to conduct a structural assessment to be used to finalize salvage plans.    The rig went aground on Sitkalidak Island on New Year’s Eve after towing lines broke during heavy seas. Kulluk    The salvage team was lowered to the […]

   Crowley Maritime Corp. has appointed Matt Yacavone to vice president of sales and chartering for its petroleum services, effective Jan. 7.    Based in Jacksonville, Fla., he will report to Rob Grune, senior vice president and general manager for petroleum services.    Yacavone will be responsible for the planning and direction of sales and […]

   Port Freeport in Texas has appointed Jeff Strader to chief financial officer.    Strader comes from the North Carolina State Ports Authority where he was deputy executive director for finance and administration and CFO.    He follows another former North Carolina port authority executive, Glenn Carlson, who in mid-October became Freeport’s executive director, replacing […]

The union and employers agreed last week to continue contract negotiations through Feb. 6, averting a strike that would have begun on Dec. 30, but there are still difficult issues for the two sides to address in the weeks ahead.

Kulluk    A large mobile drill rig ran aground off the coast of Alaska on Monday evening.    Reports from the U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday said a flyover of the Conical Drill Unit (CDU) Kulluk showed the vessel “remains grounded but stable” near Sitkalidak Island (north edge of Ocean Bay). The flight crew’s aerial inspection found […]

   The U.S. Export-Import Bank will finance a $1.8 billion direct loan to BG Energy Holdings Ltd. to support U.S. exports for a natural gas liquefaction (LNG) project in Queensland, Australia.    This is the bank’s second LNG project in Australia, and it will support an estimated 9,200 American jobs.    Ex-Im Bank’s financing will […]

   The U.S. International Trade Commission has begun to update its report on the effects of significant U.S. import restraints.    The report will also examine the contribution of services to U.S. manufacturing, the non-partisan, fact-finding agency said.    The report, The Economic Effects of Significant U.S. Import Restraints: Eighth Update Special Topic: Services’ Contribution to […]

The Panama Canal Authority said Monday that the expansion of the waterway, begun five years ago, is now about half completed, and the official date for the completion of the expansion project remains October 2014.

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the employers of their members, represented by the U.S. Maritime Alliance, have agreed to extend their contract 30 days until midnight Jan. 28.

   The ocean carrier Maersk Line has added two extra vessels to its weekly Safari 1 service between Asia and South Africa, increasing roundtrip voyage time on the loop from 56 days to 70 days.    Transit times westbound from China and Maersk’s mega-regional hub in Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, to South Africa on the Safari 1 […]

The Sandy Doctors Recovery Project aims to restore medical services by providing much needed materials including examination tables, blood pressure units and physical therapy equipment to damaged medical practices.

The three companies – United Grain, Columbia Grain and Louis Dreyfus – said they will not lock out the union and “ILWU members are welcome to come to work under the new terms and conditions of employment.”

An analysis of cargo and container “incidents,” such as leakages, explosions, fires, and stuctural failures of flexitanks or valves, finds more than two-thirds involved dangerous goods.

   After nearly two months on a six-week rotation, ocean carrier Maersk Line has increased the speed of its weekly Asia-to-East Indian CHX service, decreasing roundtrip voyage time from 42 days to 35 days.     Transit times eastbound from India to Maersk’s mega-regional hub in Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, on the CHX remain roughly the same, […]

Three companies operating grain export terminals in the Pacific Northwest – United Grain, Columbia Grain and Louis Dreyfus – said members of the ILWU rejected their last, best and final contract offer.

   The United States and Russia have agreed to an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Action Plan to improve IPR protection and enforcement.    The IPR Action Plan addresses priority areas including combating IPR infringement over the Internet and strengthening IPR enforcement.     “Agreement on the IPR Action Plan represents a significant step at a historic […]

The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service director said the International Longshoremen’s Association and the group trying to negotiate a new contract with them, the U.S. Maritime Alliance, have agreed to meet before their current pact expires.

   Quality Distribution has appointed former U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration head Annette M. Sandberg to board director.    Sandberg has more than 20 years of public safety and law enforcement experience at federal and state government agencies. She ran the FMCSA from Aug. 1, 2003 to April 1, 2006. She also served as deputy aqdministrator […]

   It’s not much of a Christmas present, at least yet, but late Monday afternoon, the director of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) said the International Longshoremen’s Association and the group trying to negotiate a new contract with them, the U.S. Maritime Alliance, have agreed to meet before their current pact expires on […]

TSA Executive Administrator Brian M. Conrad said the 15 liner shipping companies that are part of the discussion agreement “cannot afford another year in which expiring contracts and seasonally weak demand erode rate levels.”

APL said it will move its vessel operations in the Port of Oakland from a terminal operated by its affiliate Eagle Marine Services to the adjacent Oakland International Container Terminal, which is operated by SSA Marine.

A coalition of more than 100 trade associations has asked President Obama to help prevent a strike by the union, which posted a document on its Website briefing members on preparations for a strike to begin at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 30.

The global third party logistics services provider has appointed Francesc Casamitjana as regional chief executive officer of its Global Integrated Logistics (GIL) business in the Americas, effective Jan. 1.

   Miami-based non-vessel-operating common carrier Econocaribe Consolidators has appointed John Kamada to manager for the U.S. West Coast region.    Based in Los Angeles, Kamada will be responsible for sales and operations in the Pacific region. Prior to joining Econocaribe, he developed full-containerload sales for Ocean World Lines.

Xun Wang, a former managing director of PPG Paints Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

   The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday released its final rule establishing general regulations to improve the traceability of livestock moving interstate.    “With the final rule announced today, the United States now has a flexible, effective animal disease traceability system for livestock moving interstate, without undue burdens for ranchers and U.S. livestock businesses,” said […]

   Third party logistics services provider SDV has set up a subsidiary in Norway extending its network to Scandinavia.    “SDV Norway AS is fully integrated into SDV’s global network and offers a complete range of services in international supply chain. The headquarters are located in central Oslo where ocean freight and industrial projects are […]

   For the first time in its history, China is expected to produce more corn than rough rice, demonstrating a growing affluence by the Chinese middle class and their demand for an increasingly protein-rich diet, the Washington-based U.S. Grain Council said.    In its December World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]

   Carriers want a single transpacific discussion agreement. The major container shipping companies in the transpacific want to create a single organization in which they can discuss both U.S. exports and imports, rather than having separate discussion agreements for the trade in each direction.

   American shippers may be preoccupied about how the expanded Panama Canal, increasing fuel costs and finding properly trained labor will impact their supply chains in the near future, but they should be careful not to lose sight of where they should focus their energies by the end of this decade.    China is expected […]

   TOTE, Inc., parent company of Sea Star Line and Totem Ocean Trailer Express, said last month it will build two 3,100-TEU containerships for the Puerto Rico trade that will be fueled with liquefied natural gas (LNG). It also has options to build three more similar ships for “additional domestic service.”    TOTE emphasized the […]

Pfizer uses sophisticated IT, fewer 3PLs to deliver products efficiently worldwide. By Chris Dupin    Pfizer makes some of the most important and advanced life-saving drugs in the world and is redesigning its global supply chain and delivery system to achieve agility in an increasingly complex and competitive global market.     The industry’s traditional approach to managing freight […]

   In an effort to put a travel expenses scandal behind it, the Port of Oakland has taken steps to be more transparent.    The scandal led to the departures of Executive Director Omar Benjamin, and James Kwon, maritime director, in November and December, respectively.    The port proclaimed its latest actions demonstrate “a new […]

   Langh develops specialized container for the steel industry. The success of containerization and intermodalism is based on the fact that there are millions of identical shipping containers which can be easily shared by shippers and carriers anywhere and hold a wide variety of cargo.

Weak economy, oversupply of ships, other challenges make 2013 a bumpy year for shippers.    By Chris Dupin       Aweak global economy and continuous deliveries of large new containerships seem likely to make 2013 a challenging year for relationships between liner carriers and their customers.    While many carriers reported a big improvement in earnings […]

   How much notice should be given to a shipowner when asked to carry hazardous cargo? That issue is discussed in a recent summary order that is part of the litigation growing out of the March 8, 2005 explosion on the Rickmers Genoa. (See: Chem One Ltd. v. M/V Rickmers Genoa. 2nd Circuit. No. 10-4934-cv(L). […]

Trade negotiators addressed U.S. concerns related to intellectual property, eliminating significant regulatory obstacles to U.S. exports, and dealing with issues concerning China’s Government Procurement Agreement accession.

“Our customers will benefit from an increased service offering and global competence base as well as one of the densest networks,” said DNV’s Group CEO Henrik O. Madsen, who will be the CEO of the combined new company.

“European shippers insist that a mandatory deadline for the delivery of the final shipping instructions by the shipper to the carrier’s office will largely solve the issue of ‘misdeclared container weight,’” the Brussels-based group said.

   The Halifax Port Authority board has renewed Karen Oldfield’s contract to continue as president and chief executive officer.    Her new five-year contract takes effect Jan. 1.    “Ms. Oldfield and her management team have been instrumental in guiding our port through challenging times, ensuring diversification and significantly enhancing our outreach to new markets […]

   Crowley Maritime Corp.’s liner services division has appointed Tony Otero to vice president of Caribbean services.    Otero replaces Matt Jackson, who will take on a new position in Crowley’s petroleum services Jan. 1.    In his new role, Otero will be responsible for sales, marketing and operational shipping activities throughout Crowley’s network in the […]

   The U.S. Transportation Department this week announced six actions to eliminate “out-of-date or duplicative paperwork, saving taxpayer dollars and reducing the workload for businesses across the country.”    DOT’s announcement comes in response to an executive order issued by President Obama in May, which instructed federal agencies to examine all existing rules and requirements […]

   The Commerce Department on Tuesday announced that it determined utility-scale wind turbine towers from China and Vietnam were both dumped on the U.S. market and received government subsidies during their manufacture.    Dumping occurs when an overseas company sells a product in the United States at less than its fair value, while countervailable subsidies are […]

   The Commerce Department on Wednesday determined that large residential washers from South Korea and Mexico are dumped on the U.S. market.    Dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in the United States at less than its fair value.    Commerce determined that producers/exporters from South Korea and Mexico have sold large […]

“I think it would be a great move, a great message for shippers and all the vendors,” said Rudy Mack, whose tenure as president of Hapag-Lloyd America from 1999 to 2007 capped 35 years with the company.

“This is truly a ‘container cliff’ in the making. The retail industry, once again, calls on President Obama to engage directly in the negotiations,” said Jonathan Gold of the National Retail Federation.

The Italy-based parent company of Atlantic Container Line has plans to start a new direct service between the Mediterranean and North America, as soon as the second half of next year or 2014.

“This is a make or break period for transpacific carriers,” said TSA executive administrator Brian M. Conrad. The carriers “cannot afford another year in which expiring contracts and seasonally weak demand erode rate levels.”

   Kohl’s Department Stores on Tuesday switched on its largest solar-power project at its million-square-foot e-commerce distribution center in Edgewater, Md.    The facility opened in 2011 and recently earned its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The location is Kohl’s sixth solar-based site in Maryland.    The […]

   Non-vessel-operating common carrier Shipco Transport will open a new International Cargo Terminals (ICT) export warehouse in Long Beach, Calif., on Jan. 7.    ICT, with warehouses in Elizabeth, N.J. and in Miami, is a Shipco subsidiary.    The new 188,000-square-foot facility is located 10 minutes from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. […]

   NVC Logistics Group, a Rockleigh, N.J.-based third party logistics services provider, has named Robert Kovacs president, effective Jan. 1.    He replaces Paul Henrici, who will retire from the company at the end of the month, after 17 years of service. Kovacs was most recently NVC’s senior vice president. He joined the company in […]

   The U.S. Export-Import Bank approved loans for more than $150 million worth of American-made energy equipment that will head to Uruguay and Mexico.    In specific, Ex-Im Bank approved a $78.6 million direct loan to Abengoa, a company in Seville, Spain, that applies technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors. It […]

The East and Gulf coast dockworkers’ union says it’s still willing to keep talking with management to secure a contract, but warned “unless we hear back from them we will be on strike on Dec. 29.”

Several grain terminals in the Pacific Northwest trying to negotiate a new contract with workers said Monday evening that they were rejecting the most recent offer from the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

   U.S. steel exports increased in October compared to September by 12.1 percent, according to the American Institute for International Steel and government data.    “Exports to both NAFTA and the smaller steel export markets in Asia and the EU increased on a month-to-month basis offsetting declines in other markets. The increase in exports – […]

   The leading German container shipping companies Hapag-Lloyd and Hamburg Süd said this morning that they are discussing a possible merger.    If accomplished, the combined companies would be the fourth largest container shipping company in the world with more than 1 million TEUs in capacity.    The only larger liner companies would be Maersk, […]

USMX has said it wants to cap royalty payments “and use the excess, not as savings for employers but to help pay for other benefits for ILA workers,” while ILA President Harold Daggett has vowed to keep the cap unchanged.

The ocean carriers have once again slowed their joint weekly service between Asia and the east and west coasts of North America. Roundtrip voyage time on the loop has increased from 112 days to 119 days, or 17 weeks.

   Non-vessel-operating common carrier Vanguard Logistics Services has started servicing Yangon, Myanmar.    Vanguard Myanmar, opened with partner Global Consolidators Ltd., has a dedicated Vanguard staff to oversee all aspects of sales, customer service and port operations. Employees at this location coordinate weekly less-than-containerload services from more than 90 origins globally through Singapore to Asia World Terminal in […]

   President Obama on Friday signed legislation that grants Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR).    The 2012 Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law and Accountability Act will allow the United States to apply the World Trade Organization agreement to Russia, offering new trade opportunities for U.S. businesses and allowing […]

   A New Jersey man on Friday was arrested for illegally trafficking in narwhal tusks and associated money laundering crimes, the Justice Department said.    On Nov. 14, a federal grand jury sitting in Bangor, Maine, returned an indictment that was partially unsealed Friday upon the arrest of Andrew L. Zarauskas of Union, N.J. The […]

Ian Mulcahy, business agent for ILA Local 1657, expected that talks between his local and the Maritime Employers Association would begin next year after a deal is reached by CUPE and its employers.

BlueWater Reporting has announced today the launch of a new Website, www.BlueWaterReporting.com. The new service combines business intelligence tools for liner shipping analytics on a global basis with news content from media partner American Shipper. BlueWaterReporting.com combines 17 new analytical applications on the BlueWater Reporting business intelligence platform with seven reports from the www.ComPairData.com Website, […]

   The Georgia Ports Authority on Friday deployed its first four electrified rubber-tired gantry cranes (ERTG), making it the first North American port operation to introduce this cleaner and more efficient equipment.    The new technology reduces fuel consumption by an estimated 95 percent, GPA said.    “This project is the latest in a series of GPA […]

   NYK on Friday said it will merge its subsidiary companies NYK-Hinode Line Ltd. and NYK Global Bulk Corp.    Hinode has been in business for more than a century and transports a variety of cargo, such as plant and heavy equipment, while NGB is one of the world’s largest specialists in handy-size bulk carriers. […]

   C.H. Robinson’s senior vice president Jim Butts will retire, effective Dec. 31.    Butts started working at the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based logistics company in 1978. He has been senior vice president since December 2007. His previous positions at C. H. Robinson include manager at both the Chicago South and Detroit offices.

“If a new labor agreement is not reached and a port shutdown occurs, we respectfully ask you to be prepared to immediately put into place measures,” the organization told the president. 

   The U.S. Export-Import Bank approved a $1.03 billion loan to GLOBALFOUNDRIES to finance the export of American-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment to Germany.    The transaction, which is Ex-Im Bank’s third with GLOBALFOUNDRIES and its related entities, will support about 9,700 jobs, according to Commerce and Labor department data.    Four American exporters from California, […]

   The Port of New Orleans has elected Joe Toomy to serve as chairman.    He succeeds Commissioner Valerie Cahill, whose term as chairman expired. Cahill will continue to serve on the board as a commissioner. The board also elected Commissioners Dan Packer to vice chairman and Greg Rusovich to secretary-treasurer.    A 24-year veteran […]