Oregon’s Port of Portland will see its last container ship service this Saturday, when Westwood Shipping Lines makes its final call.
Small and midsize ports like Portland are facing challenges as global ocean carriers have formed alliances and increasingly send goods on supersize ships that only the largest ports can accommodate. Portland’s harbor is only deep enough to handle ships that carry about 6,000-6,500 TEUs—one third the load of the largest vessels calling U.S. ports. Just two years ago, the Port of Portland moved about 130,000 TEUs, full of goods. So far this year, it has moved less than 1,000 TEUs.
According to port officials, the monthly service was no longer financially viable for the carrier. Ocean freight rates have been plummeting this year, making the cost of the 100-mile trip up the Columbia River to Portland’s docks tougher to bear.
Port officials added they still hope to recruit another container cargo carrier to call at Portland.
