Hamburg Sud said it expects to seal the acquisition of the container shipping operations of Compania Chilena de Navegacion Interoceanica by the end of March.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association met for three days this past week without concluding negotiations; at the weekend, the parties announced a week-long recess in the talks. German carrier Hamburg Süd announced plans to acquire the container operations of Chile’s CCNI, in a move resembling the deal between larger competitor Hapag-Lloyd and Chile’s CSAV, and Crowley is reported to be in talks to acquire Horizon Lines’ Puerto Rico assets. Earnings reports by U.S. truckload carriers are pointing to a stronger freight recovery in the United States, though rail service continues to be held back. And on Friday, Anne S. Ferro announced her departure from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after five years leading the agency.

A depressing air of déjà vu enveloped the Hamburg shipping community when Greek container ship owner Danaos announced that it is taking a $19 million hit on the debt restructuring of Zim as it cuts the charter rates of six ships on hire to the Israeli ocean carrier.

Five carriers announced plans to reconfigure the slings of their joint service to meet peak-season demand on the trade between Asia and the West Coast of Mexico and South America.

Hamburg Sud and Chilean ocean carrier CCNI started direct service between the West Coast of North America and Le Havre on Feb.