Marine terminals

Charlie Cunnion most recently served as vice president of supply chain and customer service for CMPC Forest Products North America.

Empties that are not being shipped back to Asia are causing congestion at the US’ busiest gateway, according to the Harbor Trucking Association, although marine terminals say the situation is being managed capably.

More than $800 million in new funds will help Philadelphia add container handling capacity at its Southport Marine Terminal in addition to boosting the site’s current auto handling capacity.

Construction of the $2.3 billion Savannah Container Terminal is due to start in January 2028, with the facility expected to handle the largest container ships once it’s completed in the 2030s.

Container shipping analyst Lars Jensen checks in from Africa, where he’s six weeks into an 18-month journey to explore firsthand the logistics opportunities and challenges on the continent.

Sri Lanka’s flagship port, which has long dominated hub activity in the region but now has emerging rivals in India, is pushing capacity expansion plans to better respond to swings in container flows.

Marine terminals in Southern California are struggling to provide enough dockworkers trained to operate complex machinery as a strong peak shipping season extends well into October.

The terminal operator’s plans for further automation overseas prompted US, Canadian and other longshore unions to issue a statement about port technology.

The Louisiana parish that is the site of a proposed mega-terminal can proceed with a lawsuit that seeks to nullify the agreements Port NOLA struck to get property for the terminal.

The acid test of dedication to hub-and-spoke systems is how many mainline ports are served when there is a magnetic pull to serve more local markets directly, writes Jeremy Masters.

There is a good business case for buying assets that will reduce costs and increase efficiency, but the cycle that generates the cash for those deals doesn’t last forever, writes Jeremy Masters.

The revamped service from Southeast Asia and South China will also be notable because the vessels will completely discharge their inbound containers in Long Beach and reload for the backhaul without calling Oakland.

It is the carrier’s second massive terminal investment in the Middle East in the past few months and highlights the important role Jeddah plays as an alternative gateway to the war-torn Persian Gulf.

The ocean carriers said Rotterdam’s heavily automated Maasvlakte II terminal is a key hub for their Gemini Cooperation partnership.

The liner was commenting after unveiling mixed financial results, with declines in both second-quarter and half-year net profit despite an increase in revenues.

The ability of ports and inland infrastructure to absorb growing and increasingly imbalanced trade flows has become the new constraint on industry growth, Vincent Clerc says.

A string of major port investments this summer highlights how ocean carriers are increasingly locking in marine terminal capacity.

The Port of Virginia has added Indianapolis as a new destination from one of its two container terminals, vying for inland business mostly served now out of New York-New Jersey.

Typhoon Noul hit Hong Kong and Shenzhen as key ports in eastern China continue to experience extensive delays and congestion more than two weeks after Typhoon Bavi moved through that region.

Bad weather in the first quarter, major infrastructure works in and around the port and geopolitical factors affecting trade networks are clouding the terminal operator’s full-year outlook.

Los Angeles and its terminal operator tenants are offering up to $300,000 per truck for drayage operators purchasing at least 10 battery-electric vehicles.

While the port says the new terminal will not be needed for a decade, work needs to start now to be ready for future volume growth.

After representing clerical workers in Southern California for decades, the ILWU Office Clerical Unit has successfully organized the terminal operator’s clerical workers in Utah as it launches a move to inland locations.

The Sharjah-based company is the third port operator in the UAE to embark on an end-to-end logistics journey, following its larger Dubai-based neighbor DP World and Abu Dhabi-based AD Ports.

With a recent investment commitment from current majority owner China Merchants Port Holdings, Hambantota’s annual box-handling capacity is expected to double to 2 million TEUs by the end of the year.

The Brownsville Navigation District unveiled its deeper ship channels last week as the South Texas port aims to be ready for heavier liquid and bulk commodity ships.

The carrier’s acquisition of a 49% stake in the Vizhinjam transshipment hub is said to be the single-largest foreign direct investment into the Indian port sector to date.

The port has played a key role during the Middle East war, with its location just south of the Strait of Hormuz providing the Persian Gulf with a multimodal gateway to global markets while the strait has been effectively closed.

The planned addition is part of the carrier’s “Strategy 2030” expansion plan outlined in April 2024 that aims to add between 10 and 15 terminals to its portfolio by the end of the decade.

SC Ports said an uncertain trade outlook in the back half of 2026 coupled with the need to lower costs drove the decision to shutter the terminal for a “short-term pause.”

But the terminal’s COO says that continued extreme temperatures forecast for the coming days would keep landside operations under pressure.

The North American terminal operator and stevedore is starting work on a long-delayed big-ship terminal along the Delaware River that would serve mid-Atlantic shippers.

 The Dubai-based company said it wants to secure a long-term lease at the Gulf Coast port to build a new box terminal, thanks to the port’s newly deepened ship channel.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has recommended deepening the Mississippi port’s main channel to a depth that would allow it to accommodate post-Panamax vessels, up from the feeder container ships it now handles.

Carriers and their affiliates now own about 50% of worldwide terminal capacity, coming close to double what it was 10 years ago, according to various industry estimates.

After a difficult first quarter of declining container volumes, the Northwest Seaport Alliance wants to incorporate the best features of both landlord and operating ports to better meet the needs of its exporter and importer customers.

The South Korean electronics conglomerate said it should not be held liable for more than $1 million in charges resulting from container delays that Wan Hai-contracted truckers experienced between 2020 and 2022.

The speech by Bobby Olvera sends a warning shot to employers and cargo owners ahead of the expiration of its longshore contract in 2028.

Main construction started Friday and includes the development of four berths capable of handling ships of more than 21,000 TEUs, plus 15 berths for regional feeder vessels.

Terminal operators and port authorities must transition from their historic, passive roles as infrastructure caretakers into active orchestrators of integrated logistics ecosystems, writes Robbert van Trooijen.