Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Jan 20, 2012 12:56PM EST
Container throughput at the Port of Halifax in 2011 dropped 5.7 percent year-over-year, largely because three liner services cut or reduced calls to the Canadian terminals this year.
Last year’s throughput of 410,649 20-foot equivalent units was 25 percent below the record level of 550,462 TEUs set in 2005, according Halifax Port Authority statistics.
The overall tonnage of cargo handled by the port declined by 0.3 percent as breakbulk tonnage fell by 38.3 percent, and container tonnage by 16.4 percent. Bulk tonnage rose 10 percent year-over-year, while roll-on, roll-off traffic expanded 3.2 percent in the same period.
During the year, the port lost calls by the Green Alliance, consisting of Cosco, K-Line, Yang Ming, Evergreen and Hanjin Shipping, after the alliance ended weekly Southeast Asia-Suez Canal express service in September.
CMA CGM suspended its Black Pearl service to and from Jamaica. In addition, Zim Integrated Shipping services reduced the number of calls at Halifax in June to one from two a week when it split its almost round-the-world service in two.
-- Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @petertleach.
