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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 [...] Late last week, shipping giants NYK Line and Evergreen announced they would stop providing chassis for cargo container units in the U.S. – effectively requiring truck owners to rent or own their own chassis. The announcements came in the weeks after similar news from shipping giants CMA CGM and OOCL. On Dec. 17, 2009, FMCSA began [...] John Wolfe faces the tasks of leading the port in difficult times and of repairing its reputation after two troubled and expensive expansions failed to live up to their promise. [In response to questions, Wolfe made the following comments:] We’ve already made a significant investment in infrastructure that’s underutilized, so we can accommodate growth [...] Commodity shipping costs measured by the Baltic Dry Index extended their longest losing streak in almost five years as an expanding fleet overwhelmed weakening demand for grain, coal and ore carriers. The index fell 41 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,406 points, the lowest since October 2009, according to the Baltic Exchange in London. That’s the [...] In the past, Port of Tacoma officials’ energy was targeted toward high-dollar container development. … Now, with orders from the Port of Tacoma Commission to right its financial ship, port officials are looking back to less troubled times and less glamorous business. Last fall, the port leased about 16 acres of the 26-acre log export facility [...] International trade volumes remained anemic at the Port of Tacoma during the first few months of 2010, but the port is still on track to be solidly in the black by year’s end, port executives told Port of Tacoma commissioners this week. The port expects net income of $20.7 million for 2010, David Morrison, the port’s [...] Unless port officials can reach agreement with banks to do otherwise, the port faces the prospect of issuing $230 million worth of bonds intended to finance a container terminal it no longer needs. Otherwise, the port could end up paying banks more than $24 million to extricate itself from bond financing agreements. The port’s treasurer, David [...] Three major domestic automakers and a leading shipping company will jointly develop a system to more efficiently transport cars by using electronic tags, it has been learned. Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and NYK Line aim to cut costs by reducing inventory and streamlining logistical facilities with the introduction of electronic [...] Senior executives at some of the world’s biggest operators of car-carrying ships have expressed doubts about how quickly the sector will recover from a slump, in spite of plans by one of the sector’s biggest investors for an initial public offering of shares and capital-raising. Demand in the car-carrier sector, which handles new and used vehicles [...] Maersk Line plans to add a direct, all water call from South Vietnam to the U.S. West Coast to its Trans-Pacific 6 service. By starting its first direct service from Vietnam to the U.S. West Coast, the Danish carrier joins what looks like a gold rush of carriers that have been setting up direct services [...] Two of Japan’s largest shipping firms, NYK and “K” Line, reached agreements with shipbuilders to convert some container ship orders to orders for bulk carriers and other vessels, as demand for container shipping is expected to take time to make a full-fledged recovery. NYK agreed … to convert seven of its 14 container ship orders to [...] 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 [...] The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, after a 45-day review, has allowed container lines in the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement (TSA) to discuss and coordinate strategies that will reduce air and water pollution, as well as vessel fuel consumption. The CEO of Hanjin Shipping Co. said it will be important for carriers, ports, terminals, regulatory agencies and [...] This week there is good news and bad news as the saying goes for staff employed by two of the world’s largest shipping lines. Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) are upping staff levels at their Liverpool operation and have taken extra space to accommodate them. … Whilst this brings the staff levels of NYK to [...] Longshore workers load Pasha's Jean Anne auto ship for transport between the U.S. West Coast and Hawai'i. Unlike container ship operators in trade lanes linked to North America, which normally sign one-year contract agreements, operators serving the international automobile shipping market offer contracts lasting two to five-years, said an NYK Line executive. Multi-year contracts shield [...] |
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