Week In Review : Service Providers

Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Richard A. Lidinsky has forwarded a wide-ranging set of recommendations for revising the Shipping Act of 1984 to the House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation. Lidinsky Included in the recommendations to committee Chairman Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, R-Md., are six proposals: • Bring container and chassis lessors within the ambit of...

Two separate analyst reports issued in the last week suggest the financial sector is conflicted on what it expects from the top Asian container shipping lines in the coming months. On Friday Citi’s Asia Pacific shipping analyst group advised investors to sell shares of every line it analyzes, including Evergreen Line, OOIL (parent of OOCL), Yang Ming, Wan Hai, NOL (parent of APL), China C...

Member lines of the Canada Transpacific Stabilization Agreement said last week they will raise their currency adjustment surcharge to 6 percent beginning Oct. 1. The surcharge will drop to 5 percent in September, after being at 6 percent since May. CTSA member lines are APL, COSCO Container Lines, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd, Hyundai Merchant Marine, “K” Line, NYK Line, OOCL, Yang Ming and...

Ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. said last week it will raise rates from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong to all Australian ports beginning Sept. 15. The rate increase is $250 per TEU. ...

While export control reform is well underway in the United States, the Obama administration on Tuesday warned exporters that enforcement of the regulations remains a top priority. The reform, announced by the White House on April 20, calls for significant changes to the way the federal government processes export licenses for controlled U.S.-made military and commercial items. The plan al...

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security wants input from the industry to develop an updated set of proposed best practices for how companies may avoid becoming involved in the illicit transit, transshipment and re-export of items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. BIS said it’s especially interested in receiving industry feedback regarding new transshipmen...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the nation will export $107.5 billion in agricultural commodities in fiscal year 2010, the second-highest year on record. “This a $3 billion increase from the May forecast, and an $11 billion increase over last year. And agriculture is one of the only major sectors of the American economy with a trade surplus -- expected to be $30.5 billion this yea...

Chief Customer Officer Vincent Gulisano officially left Greatwide Logistics Services on Aug. 21 to become chief executive officer of ParcelPort, a small non-asset-based warehousing, distribution and fulfillment outfit based in Arizona. Gulisano told AmericanShipper.com he wasn’t actively looking for a new job, but that the opportunity to have an ownership stake and lead a company was too ...

Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. plans to shift its fruit import business from Camden to Gloucester City, N.J. Robert W. Palaima, president of Delaware River Stevedores, Del Monte's stevedore, said his company was told the importer of bananas, melons and pineapple would move its business several miles south to a facility operated by Holt Logistics at the Gloucester Marine Terminal. Palaima...

China Merchant Holdings will partner with Sri Lanka conglomerate Aitken Spence to develop and operate a new terminal in the Port of Colombo, Reuters reported Tuesday. The deal, worth $450 million, will see China Merchants and Aitken Spence form a joint venture to build the first of three planned 2.5 million-TEU terminals in the key South Asian transshipment port. The terminal is planned t...

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded the Brazilian government a $674,000 grant to fund a feasibility study on the implementation of vessel traffic management systems at four of the South American country’s main ports. The large volume of commercial activity transiting each year through Brazil's thirty-four public ports has lead to logistical challenges for Latin America's lar...

Port Freeport in Texas has elected Thomas S. Perryman to port commission chairman. Perryman has been a port commission member since 1991 and is in his fourth term. He is president of Perryman Property Investments LLC, and also serves as chairman of Clute, Texas-based First State Bank Corp. ...

Hanjin Shipping said Tuesday it will discontinue providing chassis in Miami and Philadelphia on Oct. 1, and gradually expand the program to other U.S. regions. “In line with what has been in force in the rest of the world, we believe that the implementation of this new policy will immediately improve terminal productivity and cargo transit time at U.S. terminals as well by reducing idle t...

NYK and OOCL said Monday they would increased container freight rates in the transatlantic. NYK Line said effective Oct. 1 it would implement a general rate increase on cargo moving under NYK independent tariffs to and from North Europe and the United States or Canada by $150 per 20-foot container and $300 per 40-foot container. OOCL also said its rates will increase Oct. 1. The gener...

Standard and Poor’s said it is raising its rating on CSAV from B- to B and added the Chilean container carrier’s outlook is positive. The carrier has "materially improved its operating performance and its financial flexibility by raising tariffs, lowering charting rates, and increasing volumes and financial support from its shareholders. We expect profitability to materially improve durin...

OOCL said it will increase rates on cargo moving from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, the Indian Subcontinent and Middle East to Australia by $300 per TEU on Oct. 1. ...

Emirates Shipping Line said Tuesday it will become a participant in the ASEAN–Gulf-Indian Subcontinent (AGI) service launched earlier this month by a consortium of Evergreen, Simatech and OOCL. The port rotation of the service is Laem Chabang, Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas, Port Klang, Colombo, Jebel Ali, Karachi, Mundra, Colombo, Port Klang, Singapore and Laem Chabang. Emirates' partici...

Hapag-Lloyd said Tuesday Jesper Praestensgaard, 46, will become a member of its executive board on Jan. 1. As chief commercial officer, he will be responsible for the marketing and sales areas. Praestensgaard has more than 20 years of liner shipping experience, holding senior positions for Maersk Line, most recently as Singapore-based chief executive Asia Pacific Region with responsib...

The Surface Transportation Board has scheduled an oral argument for Sept. 28 in a challenge by Arizona Electric Power Cooperative to the rates BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad charge to carry coal to its generating plant near Cochise, Ariz. The utility is challenging rates from New Mexico and the northern part of the Powder River Basin, in Wyoming and Montana. The hearing of or...

The Federal Maritime Commission said it has executed compromise agreements with six companies, recovering $218,750 in civil penalties. The agreements were reached with a vessel-operating common carrier and five ocean transportation intermediaries and range from $100,000 to $15,000. Compromise agreements and amounts are: • Network Shipping Ltd., Coral Gables, Fla. FMC staff allege ...

DHL Global Forwarding said it has launched a weekly less-than-containerload service from Auckland, New Zealand, to Singapore, where shipments can be transshipped around the world. The direct service will provide customers with faster transit times, the company said. The service will be operated by Danmar Lines, DHL’s in-house non-vessel operating common carrier. DHL, which handles...

Global container terminal operators had their "toughest year ever" in 2009, said Drewry Shipping Consultants. But in a few years terminals may once again face a capacity crunch, the London-based consultants said in a summary of its Annual Review of Global Container Terminal Operators 2010. "Global economic trends meant that container throughput at the world’s ports fell for the first ...

APM Terminals Aarhus and Cargo Service have agreed to combine their two facilities into one port complex. The companies have created a joint venture, APM Terminals Cargo Service A/S, with APMT owning 60 percent of the shares and Cargo Service 40 percent in the terminal. APM, an affiliate of Maersk Line, said the merger would allow the companies to better serve customers "through one l...

Maersk said Friday it will further raise transatlantic rates on Oct. 1, as part of a plan announced at the end of last year. The routes and rate increases are: • North Europe/United States, eastbound and westbound, $250 per 20-foot dry container, $350 per 40-foot dry container, and $500 for 40-foot reefer boxes. • North Europe/Canada, eastbound and westbound, $250 per 20-foot dry ...

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday it has closed its investigation into the proposed merger of UAL Corp., parent of United Airlines, and Continental Airlines, effectively allowing the merger to proceed. The decision by United, the third-largest U.S. carrier, and Continental, the fourth-largest, to transfer takeoff and landing slots and other assets at Newark Liberty Airport in New Je...

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a $864,000 grant to Pakistan International Airlines to help it enter the growing aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul market. The grant will support a feasibility study designed to assist the airline developing a facility to service engines, landing gear, airframes and aircraft components for domestic and foreign carriers. USTDA said ...

The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded the Paraguayan government a $391,000 grant to update its aviation master plan and to position the Silvio Pettirossi International Airport for potential concession. The South American country’s goal is to improve passenger service and increase operational efficiency. The master plan will offer potential business opportunities to U.S. airpor...

Proponents of wider port trucking industry regulation applauded last week's California district court ruling that upheld components of the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program. The decision, supporters say, could benefit efforts to regulate trucking in other ports. The decision, which the American Trucking Associations has said it will appeal, "bolsters the standing of burgeoning ...

The Georgia Ports Authority said the largest vessel ever to call on the Port of Savannah arrived Friday when the 8,500-TEU CMA CGM Figaro docked at Garden City Terminal. The port authority’s Executive Director Curtis J. Foltz said the ship's arrival was "a view into the future of shipping between Asia and the U.S. East Coast," once the new locks on the Panama Canal become operational in 2...

Container carrier Zim said it had second quarter net income of $3 million compared to a $186 million loss in the second quarter of 2009. The Israeli carrier said revenue for the quarter ending June 30 was $933 million, 72 percent higher than the $543 million in the comparable quarter of 2009. Average freight rates in the second quarter was $1,328 per TEU, 26 percent higher than the $1...

The European Union has begun an antitrust investigation into marine-insurance agreements among groups of ship owners, according to a Bloomberg report Thursday. The probe will examine the actions of 13 protection and indemnity clubs that collectively insure about 93 percent of the world’s commercial fleet, checking whether “they unfairly shut commercial insurers (not in one of the clubs) o...

The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners said its council will be invited at its October meeting to appoint Joseph “Joe” Angelo as managing director, to succeed Peter Swift as managing director when he retires Dec. 31. In addition, Katharina “Kathi” Stanzel has been named deputy managing director. Intertanko membership is open to non-oil companies and non-state-contr...

Intermodal volumes hit their highest point ever last week according to the American Association of Railroads. AAR said 236,406 trailers and containers moved on U.S. railroads, a 22.4 percent increase from the same week in 2009 and up 2.6 percent compared with 2008. 2008 may be the more significant comparison considering that the recession had yet to take full hold and freight demand ...

Freight Handlers, a provider of unloading and product handling services, promoted Ryan Wall to president and chief operating officer. Wall, formerly chief leadership officer, will report to Chuck Wall, co-chairman, chief executive officer and founder of the Fuquay-Varina, N.C.-based company. Ryan Wall succeeds J.B. Wall, who now holds the positions of principal and co-chairwoman. He j...

A federal judge ruled Thursday that contentious components of the Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Program -- including an employee-driver mandate for drayage companies -- were legal. It is a huge victory for the port and a major defeat for the American Trucking Association, which had filed suit against the port in 2008, alleging the clean truck plan violated the interstate commerce clause...

The Port of Jacksonville said Thursday that Rick Ferrin has stepped down as executive director. Ferrin The agency's board of directors named Chris Kauffmann, chief operating officer, as interim executive director, and asked port management to initiate the search for a permanent successor to Ferrin. Ferrin, who has led the port for 13 years, will "serve in a new position where he will e...

Ocean carrier NYK Line said last week is has withdrawn from all trades involving Iran. The decision was made in consideration of “the current political and business difficulties related to Iran,” the line said in a customer notice. “All services to Iran have been suspended and cargo in-transit to Iran by NYK equipment is also not allowed.” On Thursday, the line also said it has formal...

The Maritime Cabotage Task Force said Wednesday its members remain committed to the oil cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico. While the Deepwater Horizon well has been capped, it’s estimated that 1 million barrels of oil from the spill may remain in the Gulf waters. “The need for considerable cleanup effort remains,” said Mark Ruge, counsel to the Washington-based task force. “The U.S. marit...

Two Scandinavian carriers said Thursday they are jointly transporting a shipment of iron ore from northern Norway to China via Russian and Arctic waters, the so-called Northern Sea Route. Tschudi Shipping Co. and Danish Nordic Bulk Carriers are working in partnership with Russian Rosatomflot (the Russian national ice-breaking fleet), to provide two icebreaking vessels to escort the bulk c...

The U.S. Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration on Wednesday Rear Adm. Philip H. Greene Jr. has been appointed to superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. Greene comes to the academy from the U.S. Navy, where he was director of the Navy Irregular Warfare Office. There he developed and employed a global maritime preventive security strategy. ...

The Greenbrier Cos. said Wednesday it has received orders for more than 1,000 new double-stack intermodal platforms, and will also re-engineer and modify about 1,100 double-stack platforms to carry 53-foot containers. Value of the new railcar orders and refurbishment work is about $130 million. The company also has orders for more than 700 new covered hopper cars, but is in discussion...

Greatwide Logistics Services has named former Con-way executive Tyler Ellison group president of transportation management and sales, the company said last week. Ellison spent the past two years as president of Con-way Multimodal, which continued to increase revenue and profits during the recession, according to Greatwide. Con-way Multimodal provides shippers access to a range of managed ...

Iron ore shipments for U.S.-flag vessel operators on the Great Lakes totaled 6 million net tons in July, a nominal increase compared to June. The Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) said the volume was a 72 percent increase over a year ago, although loadings were down about 6 percent compared to the month’s five-year average. “July loadings at U.S. ports increased 70 percent compared to ...

Matsuda The American Society of Transportation and Logistics said Maritime Administrator David T. Matsuda will deliver the opening keynote address at the Yangtze Mississippi Strategic Cooperation Forum in Chongqing, China on Oct. 18. The forum will include discussions about inland waterways transportation and economic development. The forum is jointly organized by the American Society ...

The U.S. Defense Department on Wednesday that Maj. Gen. Kevin A. Leonard has been appointed to commanding general of the Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC). Leonard replaces Maj. Gen. James L. Hodge, who will command the Sustainment Center of Excellence at Fort Lee, Va. Hodge took command of SDDC June 30, 2008. Leonard has served in a variety of joint and oper...

Containerships will continue to operate at slower speeds even as the economy improves, Maersk Line said in an article for its weekly newsletter. “Maersk Line will continue slow steaming even as market conditions turn to the better –-- slow steaming is here to stay,” says Morten Engelstoft, chief operational officer. Maersk said in 2007 it began slow steaming, a practice that "involves...

Chilean carrier CSAV said Tuesday it will commence a new service in mid-September connecting the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and key ports in China with Long Beach. The standalone service, offered by the line’s CSAV Norasia subsidiary, will operate with 11 3,500-TEUs vessels provided by CSAV. It is a unique service in that it will provide direct connection from four ports in the I...

Ocean carrier Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Tuesday it is rearranging the rotation of its North Atlantic service between Northern Europe and the U.S. East Coast. From Aug. 28, the westbound leg of the service will call first at New York from Europe. Previously, Boston was called prior to New York. The new rotation will be Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Antwerp, Le Havre, New York, Boston,...

Intermarine said it had taken delivery of the first in a series of multipurpose, heavy-lift ships. Industrial Freedom is the first of four “F Class” ships the company is having built in China. The 14,1000-deadweight-ton ships each have two 400-metric-ton cranes, combinable for 800-ton lifts, and one 80-ton standard crane. The have a "house forward" design to give greater flexibili...

A senior executive at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. told Bloomberg news service Monday the company plans to achieve 30 percent of its sales, or about $7.5 billion, from wind turbine manufacturing and sales by 2020. Currently, the South Korean industrial giant generates 99 percent of its revenue from ship and offshore equipment construction. Koh Young Youl, Daewoo’s chie...

CEVA Logistics, a large global supply chain management company, said last week it is offering an express cross-border transportation service for the oil and gas industry between the U.S. Gulf Coast and Alberta, Canada. The third-party logistics provider already offers project cargo transport from Mexico to Ontario in its role as a freight forwarder that hires specialized trucking companie...

China Merchants Group Ltd. said Li Jianhong has been named a director and president of the company. Li Jianhong is a former executive vice president of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co. China Merchants is an investor and operator of transportation infrastructure, including container terminals, on the mainland and in Hong Kong. In addition, Fu Yuning, current president, was made cha...

Talks between Evergreen and Korea's STX shipyard for 12 vessels have reportedly fallen through, but the company is continuing with plans to order 20 ships from Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's CSBC. An article in the Japanese shipping newspaper Kaiji Press on Monday featured an exclusive interview with Evergreen Group Chairman Y.F. Chang, who said the company would soon sign an order for 10 8...

Container line Hapag-Lloyd has joined a Far East/Australia service operated by ANL, China Shipping and OOCL, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data. Hapag-Lloyd has become a slot buyer on the AANA service, which has a rotation of Yokohama, Osaka, Busan, Shanghai, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Kaohsiung, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Yokohama. The service is operated with five ves...

Danaos Corp. said Monday it took delivery of two ships earlier this month, boosting its fleet to 49 ships. The ships will be chartered to France's CMA CGM and Taiwan's Yang Ming, both existing Danaos customers. The CMA CGM Racine, built at Sungdong Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and the YM Maturity, built at Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co., have carrying capacities of 6...

Hapag-Lloyd will add a vessel to its Mediterranean Gulf (MGX) service in September, according to a release Monday from the Port of New Orleans, one of the ports the service calls. The service, which Hapag-Lloyd runs in concert with CSAV, operates with six vessels averaging 3,323 TEUs, according to American Shipper affiliate ComPair Data. In September, the service will go to seven vessels....

Mediterranean Shipping Co. said Monday it is raising rates on all shipments from Southeast Asia to Australia beginning Oct. 1. The increase, $300 per container, applies to container moving from ports in Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia to all Australian ports. ...

The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Aviation Administration on Monday gave Nigeria its top rating for aviation safety. The African country has achieved a Category 1 rating under the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, which means Nigeria complies with international safety standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization. ICAO is the United...

Labrie Con-way Inc. on Tuesday morning said John G. Labrie, president of Con-way Freight, has left the company to “pursue other interests.” Stotlar Douglas W. Stotlar, president and chief executive officer of parent company Con-way Inc., has assumed the role of interim president of Con-way Freight, the company’s less-than-truckload business unit. Stotlar expects to serve as Con-way Frei...

The California State Assembly last week passed a resolution urging the federal government to create a national freight policy, adding to the chorus of those seeking such a framework to upgrade and secure the nation’s goods movement network. The resolution, SJR 33, specifically asks U.S. Congress to adopt a uniform federal interest in improving the flow of cargo through California’s airpor...

COSCO Pacific, which has interests in some 21 terminals in China and around the world, said it had revenue of $222.7 million in the first half of 2010, 40 percent more than in the same 2009 period. Throughput at those terminals was 22.4 million TEUs, 18.7 percent more than in the same 2009 period. The company pointed to a forecast by China's Ministry of Transport that China’s containe...

The Port of New Orleans saw a 60 percent increase in containerized volume in the first half of 2010, the port said Monday. The port handled more than 200,000 TEUs through June and said it is on pace to top 400,000 TEUs for the year at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal in 2010. The port said it expects to augment capacity by adding two container gantry cranes in early 2011, and $1...