Portland OKs incentive program

   The Port of Portland, Ore. will pay container carriers an incentive to move containers through the port.
   Commissioners voted 7-1 Wednesday in favor of the plan to pay carriers $20 for each container they move through the port, plus up to $25 per container if carriers grow their volumes at the port.
   Bill Wyatt, the port’s executive director, said the program was essential if they hoped to retain Hanjin shipping, the carrier that handles 78 percent of the cargo at the port’s container terminal, according to a report in the Portland according to a report in the Oregonian.
   Hanjin has said it plans to reduce the number of ports it calls at in the Pacific Northwest from four to three, but has yet to say what port it plans to drop. In addition to Portland, the carrier calls Seattle as well as Vancouver and Prince Rupert in British Columbia.
   The Oregonian said Wyatt expected to hear Hanjin’s decision within five to eight days.