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.

Westwood Shipping Lines Begins Service from Portland to Japan and Korea

The Westwood Columbia, photographed in front of Mt. Fuji in Japan, is named for the Columbia River.

The Westwood Shipping Lines service will carry between 220 and 240 containers per month under a six month contract with an option to extend for an additional year. If it proves successful, Port officials say the service could [...]

CMA CGM adds Asia – Gulf of Mexico calls

Global shipping line CMA CGM has announced that Mobile, USA (Alabama) and Pusan, Korea will be added to its PEX3 service (Asia-Gulf of Mexico) effective May 20, 2010.

The shipping line said that the upgrade will allow a wider port coverage with the best transit times between Asia and the US Gulf coast where CMA CGM [...]

Overcapacity to Last Years, says OOCL Chief

OOIL Group Chairman CC Tung said Tuesday that it could take three to four years before the container industry works its way out of the glut of vessel capacity that hangs over the market.

“We are pleased to see that after a very tough year for the container shipping industry in 2009, demand seems to be [...]

PSA's Busan terminal receives first customer

APL at Busan

The former Korean concession operated by a DP World consortium welcomed its first ship under its new management this week. Pusan Newport International Terminal (PNIT), a joint venture between PSA International (PSA) and Hanjin Corporation in Busan New Port, South Korea, started commercial operations and handled more than 800 moves from its [...]

No recovery for sinking shipyards

A Hanjin Heavy shipyard in Korea

The shipbuilding industry accounts for 1.7 percent of the Korean GDP and a whopping 13 percent of its exports – yet since the economic crisis began in 2008 it’s been sinking into the murky depths. Not only have new orders continued to decline, but existing orders in Korean shipbuilders’ [...]

U.S.-Bound Boxes Pile Up in Asia as Lines Avoid Adding Ships

Port of Busan

South Korea’s biggest port, overwhelmed with empty containers a year ago, is now dealing with shipping lines that have more cargo than they can carry. Surging shipments of furniture, electronics and clothes to the U.S. and Europe, coupled with capacity cuts by shipping lines, has caused as much as 15 percent of [...]

Korea’s Shipbuilding Industry Shows Signs of Recovery

Korea’s shipbuilding industry is seeing some signs of recovery after struggling from declining orders during the global recession. Samsung Heavy Industries announced on Tuesday that it won deals worth US$750 million from four European shipmaking firms to build nine oil tankers. Industry sources say Hyundai also could soon receive orders to build vessels for a [...]

Port of Longview posts record revenue

Longview's Berth 9 will be the site of the new $200 grain elevator buit by EGT Development, Inc. Click on the photo to read the Longview Daily News.

The Port of Longview increased its revenue 7 percent from 2008, when it hauled in $23.5 million. Before then, the port had never broken the $20 million [...]

North German shipowners face perfect storm

North German shipowners control 35 per cent of the world’s container vessels, managing many of the ships that facilitated China’s export boom of the past decade. They deal with Taiwanese or Chilean shipping lines or Korean shipyards as readily as Thomas Buddenbrook dealt with trading partners across the Baltic in Riga. As a result, northern [...]

White House Unveils Plan to Double U.S. Exports

When Mr. Obama announced during his State of the Union speech last week that he wanted to double exports, he praised the idea of forging stronger trade ties with Panama, Colombia and Korea. But pointedly stopped short of urging lawmakers to approve the deals, which had been signed by Mr. Bush. Some Democrats in Congress [...]

Hanjin Heavy to cut workforce by 30%

Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co., Korea’s fifth-largest shipyard, said Thursday it plans to slash its shipbuilding workforce by at least 30 percent to help overcome a management crisis arising from a worldwide recession in the industry, according to the Yonhap News. The plan calls for the company to begin layoffs in its shipbuilding unit [...]

Hyundai Heavy misses ship order target

A ship under construction at Hyundai Heavy in Korea

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s biggest shipbuilder, missed its target for new contracts for a second year as the credit crisis and shrinking global trade reduced demand for vessels. The shipyard won $10.6 billion worth of new orders for ships, marine engines and other products [...]

French Government May Help CMA CGM

The French government said Dec. 2 it is willing to help CMA CGM, but the troubled ocean container carrier must first sign a debt restructuring deal with its creditors. The government “does not exclude intervention” in CMA CGM “but it must first resolve its debt problem with the banks,” said a French official. … The [...]

Korean Shipbuilders Export Their Know-How

As orders are decreasing, Korean shipbuilders are starting to sell their know-how instead. The nation’s top three shipbuilders are all striking deals to collaborate with overseas companies. … The partnerships are expected to generate more cash for both sides, but the benefits may be short-lived. Critics point out that selling technology will have harmful long-term [...]

China, Korea Aid for Shipping Industry May Prolong Rates Slump

South Korea and China, the largest shipbuilding nations, are helping their maritime industries weather a cargo slump. Their aid may prolong the slowdown. … Aid will safeguard ship orders even after overcapacity and slowing trade caused container rates to slide about 30 percent from a year earlier in the third quarter and dry-bulk rates to [...]