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.

GAO: Jones Act carriers serve reliability

‘Some of the cargo imported from the United States is temperature-controlled perishable goods, such as dairy, meat and agricultural products,’ the GAO said in the report. ‘According to representatives of the Puerto Rico Farm Bureau, the cost and reliability of shipping perishable food items is important because the island has less than a week’s [...]

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Matson and Horizon get container shipping competition from Pasha

The first shipment of containers onboard the Pasha Hawaii’s MV Jean Anne are seen being off-loaded in Honolulu after arriving from San Diego. Photo courtesy of Pasha Hawaii.

Pasha Hawai’i Transport Lines, LLC, has now entered the container shipping business. The company says Pashas ship, the MV Jean Anne, has been modified to ship [...]

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Horizon Lines Names New CEO

From gCaptain:

Horizon Lines, Inc. (OTCQB: HRZL) has announced that Sam Woodward has joined the company as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors, effective June 7, 2012. Mr. Woodward succeeds Stephen H. Fraser, who has served as interim President and CEO since March 2011.

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JaxPort turns down $250 million deal

The Jacksonville Port Authority has turned down a proposal by an international shipping firm seeking to lease 100 acres at Blount Island for a cargo terminal that would have been one of the port’s biggest.

Gulftainer Co. Ltd. also said it would spend around $250 million in Jacksonville if it built a terminal here, according [...]

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Horizon Lines Opposes Any Changes to Jones Act

Horizon Lines recently issued the following statement from its interim President and CEO Stephen H. Fraser, opposing any changes to the 1920 Jones Act that imposes restrictions on shipping between U.S. Ports.

Horizon Lines is, and always has been, a very staunch supporter of the Jones Act and all of its requirements. The Jones Act [...]

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Horizon Lines to drydock three ships in Asia

U.S.-flag containership operator Horizon Lines, Inc. has reported financial results for the fiscal first quarter ended March 25, 2012 and revealed that it will be drydocking three of its vessels in Asia. The decision has been taken against a backdrop of a continuing operating loss. Still, it is likely to be viewed with concern by [...]

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Matson, Wilh. Wilhelmsen report first quarter profits

Though several carriers have reported first quarter losses, there’s better news for others:

With Horizon Lines dropping out of the shipping trade on Guam, Matson Navigation Co. reported an $8.1 million operating profit for the first quarter of this year — compared to $5.4 million in a similar quarter last year. Matson transported 6,400 containers [...]

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Horizon Lines Opposes Any Changes to Jones Act

Horizon Lines issued the following statement opposing any changes to the 1920 Jones Act that imposes restrictions on shipping between U.S. Ports.

Horizon Lines is, and always has been, a very staunch supporter of the Jones Act and all of its requirements. The Jones Act stipulates that cargo shipped between two U.S. ports must be [...]

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Horizon Lines fined $1 million in Oakland pollution

The shipping company Horizon Lines will pay a $1 million fine and contribute $500,000 to Bay Area environmental projects after pleading guilty to violating oil pollution laws.

Federal prosecutors said an inspection of the container ship Horizon Enterprise at the Port of Oakland in October found that a valve had been opened to prevent meters [...]

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Long Beach Container Traffic Plunges 20 Percent

The JOC reports that the Port of Long Beach has suffered from niche carriers’ losses: Earlier this year, The Containership Co. went out of business. Niche carriers CSAV, Matson Navigation Co., Horizon Lines and Grand China Shipping each pulled a string of ships from the trans-Pacific, and those carriers were all calling in Long [...]

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Concern in Unalaska over Reefer Van Safety

The ILWU at the Port of Dutch Harbor in Unalaska, Alaska, refused to transport any Maersk reefers until Horizon provided maintenance records for the containers. So far they have identified and isolated approximately 60 at-risk containers in Unalaska and Akutan.

The Horizon Lines cargo terminal in Unalaska [Port of Dutch Harbor] shutdown Sunday over [...]

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Thin profits, high fuel costs winnow Pacific trade players

The transpacific trade, like most of the world’s major ocean shipping routes, is dominated by huge foreign carriers that are large enough to roll with tough times. The three biggest — APM Maersk of Copenhagen, Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. and Marseille-based CMA-CGM — each has a fleet larger than that of the U.S. Navy.

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Grand China Suspends Trans-Pacific Service

Grand China Shipping has become the latest niche carrier to suspend a trans-Pacific service because of deteriorating conditions in the U.S. import trade from China.

Niche carriers operate small vessels of about 3,000-TEU capacity, or less than half the capacity of most vessels in the trade. The routes were between China and Los Angeles-Long Beach.

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Horizon Lines to End Trans-Pacific Services

The JOC reports that Horizon’s exit from the Guam trade will leave Matson Navigation as the only U.S.-flag carrier between the U.S. mainland and Guam.

Horizon Lines is discontinuing its money-losing trans-Pacific service, a route that sought to sail in a niche market underneath the scope of larger container lines by linking the U.S. West [...]

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New York Stock Exchange warns Horizon Lines it faces delisting

Horizon Lines, based in Charlotte, N.C., told its investors earlier this year that it might default on loans due to a $45 million federal antitrust fine, which was later reduced to $15 million.

The New York Stock Exchange has notified Horizon Lines Inc. that it faces delisting from the exchange.

Horizon is below listing [...]

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