Matson Navigation Company announced Thursday that it is expanding its service between China and the Port of Long Beach by adding a second string of vessels.

The new vessels will provide service from the ports of [...]]]>

The new weekly Matson service to Long Beach will begin in mid-August and be in full deployment by early October.

Matson Navigation Company announced Thursday that it is expanding its service between China and the Port of Long Beach by adding a second string of vessels.

The new vessels will provide service from the ports of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai to Long Beach and add an estimated 234,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) to trade volume at the Port. The deployed ships will have an average capacity of 3,500 TEUs.

From a Port of Long Beach news release

Puget Sound longshore workers are experiencing a strong rebound. This photo was submitted by Seattle longshore worker Curt Treadwell. Submit your waterfront photos to longshorenews (at) gmail.com.

Containerized imports at the Port of Seattle exploded last month, increasing 93.3 percent compared to June of 2009. The 88,763 TEUs recorded in June were the highest [...]]]>

Puget Sound longshore workers are experiencing a strong rebound. This photo was submitted by Seattle longshore worker Curt Treadwell. Submit your waterfront photos to longshorenews (at) gmail.com.

Containerized imports at the Port of Seattle exploded last month, increasing 93.3 percent compared to June of 2009. The 88,763 TEUs recorded in June were the highest tally for imports so far this year, and were far higher than any monthly total recorded in 2009. Contributing to the unusually large increase was a new service by CMA CGM and Maersk Line that was introduced last summer.

Imports are increasing strongly at the Puget Sound ports. Tacoma recorded a 21 percent increase in imports in June.

From the Journal of Commerce

The Port of Grays Harbor, WA, says its first-half export activity has more than doubled over the same period last year. [...]]]>

This Port of Grays Harbor photo shows longshore workers driving imported autos off a ship. The port has also gained export business, including exporting Jeeps to China that formerly passed through East Coast ports.

The Port of Grays Harbor, WA, says its first-half export activity has more than doubled over the same period last year. … Credit new niche businesses in soybean meal and auto exports for that volume increase. The log business is reviving as new companies are exporting logs to China and Korea.

Grays Harbor doesn’t expect its newfound business to threaten existing business at Columbia River or Puget Sound ports, Nelson said. The exports are new businesses that have been handled elsewhere or not at all.

From the News Tribune

[This Spanish article is based on a news release that can also be read in English.]

La ILWU, sindicato afiliado a IDC y que representa a 25.000 trabajadores portuarios en la Costa Oeste de Estados [...]]]>

El IDC (Consejo Internacional de Trabajadores) es una asociación formada por organizaciones de trabajadores portuarios de todo el mundo.

[This Spanish article is based on a news release that can also be read in English.]

La ILWU, sindicato afiliado a IDC y que representa a 25.000 trabajadores portuarios en la Costa Oeste de Estados Unidos, ha presentado formalmente una reclamación contra el gobierno de Costa Rica conforme al Tratado de Libre Comercio entre Estados Unidos, Centro América y Republica Dominicana por “graves incumplimientos en repetidas ocasiones de las leyes laborales de Costa Rica por el gobierno de ese país” tales como la imposición de una junta directiva sindical controlada por la patronal y respaldada por el mismo gobierno; la congelación de las cuentas bancarias del Sindicato o la militarización de los puertos como preparativo para la toma completa del Sindicato.

Published on the International Dockworkers Council web site

Valenzuela will direct the operations, maintenance and development of the Port’s maritime facilities and infrastructure, including the Port’s cargo [...]]]> Joel Valenzuela has been named director of maritime operations at the Port of San Diego. Valenzuela was previously the department manager of maritime industry and trade relations at the Port. He assumed his new role July 19.

Valenzuela will direct the operations, maintenance and development of the Port’s maritime facilities and infrastructure, including the Port’s cargo and cruise terminals, public piers, wharves and docks.

Charles Wurster, president and CEO of the Port, said, “Joel’s experience with terminal management and international trade will help us rebuild our cargo numbers and increase revenue.”

Published in Port World

Tom Chamberlain, Oregon AFL-CIO president, says Portand must respect West Hayden Island's designation as industrial land and support port use as well as preservation.

Sustainability is two-pronged: it must address [...]]]> This opinion piece is by Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, regarding the development of West Hayden Island, directly across from Portland’s container terminal 6.

Tom Chamberlain, Oregon AFL-CIO president, says Portand must respect West Hayden Island's designation as industrial land and support port use as well as preservation.

Sustainability is two-pronged: it must address both our pristine natural areas, and support a middle class. … The 1,200 good jobs that could be generated on this land will not be generated elsewhere in our region.

The Oregon AFL-CIO puts a tremendous amount of effort into sustainability and “green jobs.” We believe that jobs and a serious ecological ethic can coexist, and in fact can be mutually supporting. But if we are to have “green jobs” and (presumably) green products, and if we are committed to keeping those good, green, jobs in Oregon, we will need to export our green products. In a state that needs more exports and trade activity, where we have a shrinking middle class with steadily falling wages, it is bewildering that facilitating port development and job creation could be considered optional.

Read the rest in the Oregonian

“Los estadounidenses quieren creer que Costa Rica es un paraíso,” dijo Robert McEllrath, Presidente Internacional de ILWU.  “Pero Costa Rica se está transformando en un país en el que la policía rompe ventanas y puertas en los locales donde los trabajadores realizan asambleas pacíficas, en el que el gobierno hace [...]]]>

Los trabajadores portuarios de SINTRAJAP

“Los estadounidenses quieren creer que Costa Rica es un paraíso,” dijo Robert McEllrath, Presidente Internacional de ILWU.  “Pero Costa Rica se está transformando en un país en el que la policía rompe ventanas y puertas en los locales donde los trabajadores realizan asambleas pacíficas, en el que el gobierno hace propaganda para interferir en las elecciones sindicales, y en el que el bienestar de los trabajadores y sus familias queda relegado a segundo plano después de las ganancias de las empresas transnacionales.”

La Sección de Estibadores del Sindicato Internacional de Trabajadores Portuarios y Almacenistas (ILWU Coast Longshore Division) se ha solidarizado con SINTRAJAP, el sindicato de estibadores costarricenses, desde poco después de que el gobierno sustituyó a la dirigencia legítima, a la mitad de un mandato de dos años, con un grupo afín a sus intereses en febrero.  Dicha Sección ha colocado anuncios de plana entera en los periódicos de Costa Rica para informar a los costarricenses de los abusos del gobierno y ha enviado una delegación a Limón para entrevistar a los trabajadores, reunirse con los funcionarios públicos, y documentar los abusos.  Los estibadores estadounidenses trabajan para muchas de las mismas navieras y empresas de estiba que realizan operaciones comerciales en Costa Rica.

Click here to see the SINTRAJAP web site

West Coast ports have fast rail connections to the east – considerably faster than going south to Panama, transiting the canal, and then steaming back north to the East Coast. Although ships ton-for-ton and [...]]]>

High fuel costs, slow steaming and other global factors have made going the extra distance through the Panama Canal less enticing.

West Coast ports have fast rail connections to the east – considerably faster than going south to Panama, transiting the canal, and then steaming back north to the East Coast. Although ships ton-for-ton and mile-for-mile offer the most environmentally friendly way to transport cargo, the greater distances involved with a ship using the all-water route through the Panama Canal erodes much of that advantage. … The current practice of slow-steaming will only magnify that time difference.

Read the full analysis at the Cunningham Report

“The Main Channel deepening project is a lifeline to maintaining our competitive edge during the critical years ahead [...]]]> After a five-year lull, construction restarted this week on the final phase of the Main Channel deepening project at the Port of Los Angeles, which will eventually allow larger cargo vessels to access harbor terminals, officials announced Friday.

“The Main Channel deepening project is a lifeline to maintaining our competitive edge during the critical years ahead as we face increased competition on a number of fronts,” said Geraldine Knatz, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles.

Port officials said work will be completed in time to coincide with the ongoing expansion of the Panama Canal, which will allow larger cargo ships to make stops at Los Angeles and other West Coast ports by 2014.

From the Daily Breeze

CMA CGM, which began talks with creditors in September, needs the reorganization to avoid insolvency after breaching covenants on [...]]]> CMA CGM SA, the French shipper reorganizing 5.4 billion euros ($7 billion) of debt, is seeking to put together a new investor group by a July 26 court deadline, said people with direct knowledge of the matter.

CMA CGM, which began talks with creditors in September, needs the reorganization to avoid insolvency after breaching covenants on most of its debt.

It remains unclear whether CMA CGM will be able to reach an agreement with investors before a hearing next week at the Paris court overseeing the reorganization, the people said. CMA CGM could also seek to extend the deadline.

From Bloomberg News