Disclaimer The articles excerpted on this site report on the state of the industry as seen by mainstream media, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the officers of the ILWU Coast Longshore Division.
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 Longshoremen stand atop log rafts and sit inside crane cabins while loading logs into the cargo hold of the ship Koombana Bay, the first log ship to be loaded in Port Angeles since the year 2000. Click on the image to read the Peninsula Daily News article. Logs from West End forests were lifted aboard a year-old freighter ship Monday in a three-day operation that will mark Port Angeles’ first log export operation in nearly a decade. Eighteen longshoremen — mostly from Port Angeles — started a packed three-day schedule loading the 554-foot Koombana Bay. The ship will then head to Longview to be filled with logs before it heads out on a 15-day journey to South Korea.
The absence of ships loading logs in Port Angeles Harbor has been a constant reminder of the slowdown in the industry, said George Schoenfeldt, a former ILWU dispatcher and current Port Commissioner. “The main thing is the economic benefit to the community.”
From the Peninsula Daily News, March 9, 2010
The slot charter agreement between Horizon Lines and Maersk Line on the Trans-Pacific 1 (TP1) service will end in December 2010. This weekly service currently calls Yantian, Xiamen, Kaohsiuing, Los Angeles, Oakland, Honolulu and Guam. Horizon Lines operates five vessels in this service. Maersk Line has been utilizing the entire 1100 FFE capacity eastbound, and uses a small amount of space on the westbound rotation. Empty westbound Maersk Line containers are utilized by Horizon Lines for their West Coast customers to ship cargo to Hawaii and Guam.
“Maersk Line is carefully watching market developments and reviewing customer requirements. Once these are made clear we will release a plan designed to replace TP1 capacity,” said a Maersk executive.
From the Manila Bulletin, March 8, 2010
 MSC ship in Brasil Customers of shipping lines created container shipping’s deepest crisis and contributed to persistent and damaging price instability in the sector, the head of the industry’s second-biggest operator has said. Gianluigi Aponte, chief executive of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), told the Financial Times that every main line would survive the crisis, in which earnings per container have slumped well below operating costs. But shippers – shipping lines’ customers – had abused industry overcapacity to stir up price competition, he said. “Shippers are not that deep,” Mr Aponte said. “They worry always who will ship for $50 less. The shippers are concerned solely by the price.”
From the Financial Times, March 7, 2010
Southern California air regulators proposed tougher rules Friday to ensure that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach reduce their share of deadly emissions from ships, trains, big rigs and cargo-handling equipment, prompting harsh objections from harbor officials.
Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, said, “We don’t think we need a backstop rule and we are not willing to support financial penalties. They want us to impose fines on our customers and that is not something we are willing do in the middle of an economic downturn.”
From the Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2010
 Cambodia's Phnom Penh’s Autonomous Port. Click on the image to read the Phnom Penh Post. Shipments at Phnom Penh’s Autonomous Port increased by 51.5 percent in February compared to the same month last year, but were down on January freight highs following Chinese New Year, figures showed Thursday. Last month 3,271 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) were delivered and received by the port, compared to 2,158 TEUs in February 2009. Many of the containers were shipped through the Vietnamese deepwater port of Cai Mep, which opened last year and is widely seen to be the reason for the capital port’s recovery following the global economic crisis. It offers a more direct route for shipments to the United States and Canada, shaving days off travel times compared to traditional shipping routes via Hong Kong and Singapore.
In January, the director general of the port said that the Phnom Penh port’s target was to ship 62,500 TEUs this year – 44 percent more than the 43,312 TEUs transported in 2009. Chinese company Shanghai is also scheduled to construct a $30 million port upgrade that would further increase capacity.
From the Phnom Penh Post, March 5, 2010
In a move that could shake up hierarchy at the Port of Long Beach, managing director of trade relations and port operations Alex Cherin will leave his position to launch his own private law firm. Cherin’s position is one of the highest-ranking at the Port. Cherin played an instrumental role in several key assignments at the Port in recent years, including the development of the Clean Trucks Program and the creation of incentive programs for trade partners. The Board of Harbor Commissioners president credited Cherin with being “instrumental in policy direction, by advising on the Clean Truck’s Program, the Middle Harbor Project and the Gerald Desmond Bridge, as well as other major projects.”
From the Long Beach News, March 5, 2010
 Grading logs before shipment at the Port of Olympia U.S. West Coast ports experienced an average decline of 19 percent for longshoremen hours, but the Port of Olympia increased its hours by 109 percent compared to 2008, according to the Pacific Maritime Association. The main reason for the marine terminal’s dramatic increase in revenue and longshoremen hours can be attributed to Weyerhaeuser beginning full operation at the port during March.
The Port of Olympia had 11 log vessels in 2009, most of them from Weyerhaeuser. For each vessel, the company adds two additional employees to its 23 regular employees, and the port will have four people assigned. The vessels also usually require between 35 and 37 longshoremen per shift.
From the Business Examiner, March 8, 2010
Container shipping lines in the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (WTSA) are recommending a further general rate increase on ocean cargo moving from the U.S. to Asia. Effective April 1, 2010, WTSA carriers say they intend to raise dry cargo rates by US$300 per 40-foot container (FEU) and US$240 per 20-foot container (TEU), as well as increases for refriderated and all other cargo, including minilandbridge, inland intermodal and all-water shipments from the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts.
“Despite modest improvements in cargo demand and rates in recent months, all carriers continue to lose money in both directions between the U.S. and Asia,” explained the WTSA executive administrator. “This has put sustained pressure on the westbound backhaul segment of the market to make its full contribution to roundtrip costs, particularly given cargo imbalance, equipment repositioning and other constraints unique to the trade.”
From eTaiwanNews, March 8, 2010
Linda Styrk was named managing director of the seaport division at the Port of Seattle. She has been with the port since 2005, most recently as director of seaport marketing. Styrk served previously as president of the office and warehouse operations at Universal Freight Forwarders. She also worked for 12 years at APL. Styrk replaces Charlie Sheldon, who will assist her in the transition until the end of the year.
From the Journal of Commerce, March 5, 2010
 The Port of Laem Chabang, Thailand, will soon add links to Los Angeles and Oakland. The New World Alliance (TNWA), which includes shipping lines Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), APL and Hyundai Merchant Marine, is adding the Thai port of Laem Chabang to its Pacific Southwest Express (PSX) service to provide a freight container link between Thailand and the ports of Los Angeles and Oakland, CA. The new service will be available starting on the 15th of March.
In addition to this change, MOL today announced service changes in its Japan – U.S. West Coast and Canada service with a joint operation by MOL and “K” LINE. Starting on April 7th, the “JAS” service will be a shuttle service between Japan and Los Angeles / Oakland with five ships. It will provide faster transit times from the States to Japan, while shifting calls at Tacoma and Vancouver to a new “PN1″ service. The “PN1″ (Pacific Northwest 1) service will directly connect China, Taiwan and Japan to ports in the Pacific Northwest with six ships.
From the Handy Shipping Guide, March 5, 2010
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s No. 1 shipbuilder, said Thursday it has developed an environmentally friendly marine engine that meets toughened regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. The Korean company said it is the world’s first marine engine that meets the new standards of the International Maritime Organization. “The new engine reduces emissions of nitrogen oxides by 15 percent,” it said in a press release. Nitrogen oxides, often referred to NOx, are known as a major greenhouse gas and air pollutant. The product has been delivered to Yangfan Shipyard, China, after a test run, and will be installed in a bulk carrier, it said.
From the China Post, March 5, 2010
 Horizon Lines ship at the Port of Tacoma Horizon Lines, a shipping company that serves Alaska and Hawaii, will continue using the Port of Tacoma for another six years. The carrier’s lease with terminal operator APM Terminals North America was set to expire in December. And at a time when shipping terminal operators are scrambling for business, Horizon was considering several options including leaving Tacoma. … Horizon’s renewed commitment to Tacoma was welcome news to the local longshore union. Scott Mason, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, estimated that one Horizon ship requires about 75 longshore workers.
From the News Tribune, March 4, 2010
Children attending schools in San Pedro and Wilmington may soon breathe a little easier under a $6 million plan tentatively approved Wednesday by a Los Angeles City Council committee. At least 50 private and public schools will be fitted with air filters over the next five years to protect students from pollution spewed at the Port of Los Angeles. The project is part of a community improvement plan that allows port officials to move ahead with the massive TraPac terminal expansion project.
The full City Council is expected later this month to consider the air filter installation project.
From the Daily Breeze, March 3, 2010
Local U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Doug Kaup will be playing a lead role in a dramatic redesign that will transform the Coast Guard in the Pacific Northwest. Fundamental structural shifts will soon take place in the upper ranks of Coast Guard leadership, and will change everything for Group Astoria. The move is part of a Coast Guardwide transformation that began after 9/11 which will soon concentrate more leadership in Astoria and shift it away from Portland.
The new organization will eliminate Group Astoria, leaving Air Station Astoria in place; bring about 35 new Coast Guard jobs to the area during the next year; control Columbia River Bar closures locally; and move a key shipping security role from Portland to Astoria.
From the Daily Astorian, March 2, 2010
I hate to think we’ve become a country that has lost the concept of public purpose, a country that allows corporations to poison the people who live nearby, or a country that no longer expects workers to be paid a decent wage for a day’s work. Those are modest ideas. But apparently they’re too much for the trucking industry, at least in Southern California and around our nation’s busiest ports. We want the trucking companies to buy and maintain clean new trucks. We also want them to pay their truck drivers a fair wage and the employment taxes that go with it. The trucking companies would prefer the federal government protect them from those obligations. It’s a fight that’s spilling over to seaports all over the country. And our coalition is getting help from the mayors of New York, Newark, Seattle, Oakland and Broward County, Florida as well.
From the Huffington Post, March 3, 2010
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