Journal of Commerce Logo
Journal of Commerce Logo
Free TrialSubscribe
Home
maritime
port news

Port News

The latest port news from the Journal of Commerce spans the globe from North Carolina and Florida to Shanghai and Singapore. Port news includes port automation, terminal construction projects, the future of decarbonization and net-zero shipping, dredging, port hinterland connectivity, labor, disruption, port congestion and cargo flow.

Subsections

The latest Port News News & Analysis

Savannah reopens berth at Garden City Terminal, boosting capacity by 25%

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The Georgia Ports Authority has acknowledged the added berth capacity was sorely needed during the worst of the pandemic-driven port congestion when Savannah’s queue hit more than 30 ships in September 2021.
North American portsTrans-PacificMarine terminalsPort infrastructure

ILWU Canada caucus approves tentative deal; membership vote expected this week

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The rollercoaster developments of the past three weeks, which began with a 13-day strike by ILWU Canada on July 1, have disrupted cargo handling at Vancouver, Canada’s largest port and a gateway to US and Canadian markets.
MaritimePort NewsLongshore laborNorth American ports

Retail 3PL GSC expands service scope with MacMillan-Piper acquisition

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
GSC intends to combine its expertise in servicing containerized imports in the retail sector with MacMillan-Piper's experience in warehousing and transloading of primarily export commodities.
North American portsTrans-PacificSupply chain

Heightened biosecurity program drives Australian ro/ro port congestion

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
A rigorous hunt for seeds and pollen is disrupting vehicle and high & heavy imports into Australia, leading carriers to pull back on services.
Breakbulk NewsRo/ro cargoPort News

Trans-Pacific preps for weak, shorter peak season before new capacity hits

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
With a significantly shorter peak season expected this year, the ability of carriers to match capacity to demand will be tested over the next six months as they seek to keep spot rates from dipping below contract levels.
Container Shipping NewsMaritimeContainer linesTrans-PacificPort NewsNorth American ports

NWSA auto imports up sharply amid new business from Hyundai, GM

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
New and expanded auto imports landing at the Northwest Seaport Alliance come as carriers take advantage of its proximity to Asian ports during a time of scarce ro/ro tonnage.
Ro/ro cargoTrans-PacificNorth American ports

GRI success, rising imports drive spot rates higher as trans-Pac peak season nears

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Retailers and NVOs aren’t sure if spot rates will continue to increase steadily through the peak season or whether new capacity expected to enter the trans-Pacific in the coming months will cause rates to fall again.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificNorth American portsInternational ports

UPDATE: Western Canada longshore workers retract notice of Saturday strike

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The rejection of last week’s tentative contract deal by a caucus of ILWU Canada narrows the prospects of a resolution without one imposed by Parliament through back-to-work legislation.
Longshore laborTrans-PacificNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

India-US contract rates tick up after July GRI activity

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
Freight forwarder sources in India believe the success of a fourth round of general rate increases scheduled for Aug. 1 will hinge on the ability of carriers to hold firm on recent pricing gains.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesNorth American portsInternational ports

Rotterdam posts sharp drop in H1 volume, provides muted full-year outlook

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
A weak global economy and limited demand in Europe has set the continent’s largest port on course for a second year of declining volume.
Marine terminalsInternational ports

Longshore labor unrest a new daily fact of life for North American shippers

Peter Tirschwell |
Part of the new dynamic on the waterfront reflects wider transportation labor activism where rail, aviation, trucking and longshore workers have achieved or are seeking to achieve substantial enhancements in pay and work rules, writes Peter Tirschwell.
Longshore laborContainer linesMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Antwerp-Bruges H1 volumes slide on weak demand, poor industrial outlook

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
The fall hid some upbeat trends, with the number of refrigerated containers rising more than 10% in the first half and the rate of decline in overall volumes easing in the second quarter.
International portsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesAsia-EuropeBreakbulk NewsRo/ro cargo

GPA’s Brunswick seeing significant growth in auto imports

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
Brunswick’s growth comes amid rising automotive production, pent-up consumer demand and an easing of the semiconductor shortage that occurred during the pandemic.
Ro/ro cargoPort NewsNorth American portsPort infrastructure

Post-strike recovery for western Canadian ports measured in weeks, not days: sources

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Forwarders, shipping lines and trucking interests are advising their customers it will take weeks — possibly into September — for operations at Prince Rupert and Vancouver to return to normal.
MaritimePort NewsLongshore laborNorth American ports

New Jersey union claims ILA blocked it from terminal construction project

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
A union of construction equipment operators in New Jersey alleges the International Longshoremen’s Association sought to take away marine terminal work it was hired to perform.
Longshore laborNorth American ports

Western Canada port strike ends after deal reached on tentative four-year contract

JOC Staff |
The end of the strike comes less than two days after Canada’s Minister of Labour ordered the federal mediator overseeing negotiations between the union and employers to provide recommendations for a settlement.
Longshore laborNorth American ports

Fewer empty imports reconfigure Indian containerized trade patterns

Bency Mathew, Special Correspondent |
The new trade pattern reflects in large part a sharp drop in empty equipment imports amid weakening demand conditions, rather than sustained export trade, industry observers say.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational ports

Canada’s Minister of Labour intervenes in bid to end dockworker strike

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
If ILWU Canada or longshore employers reject the recommendations of a federal mediator, the next step will be for the Canadian government to reconvene Parliament, which is on summer recess, to address the situation.
MaritimePort NewsLongshore laborNorth American ports

Cargo recovery along USWC began prior to tentative labor deal: analyst

Larry Gross, president and founder, Gross Transportation Consulting; and JOC analyst |
The doom and gloom regarding cargo diverted away from the US West Coast during recent labor strife may have been excessive, as importers are not eager to permanently adopt higher-cost routings when a reliable lower-cost option with reasonable service exists, writes analyst Larry Gross.
North American portsContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-Pacific

ILA Charleston protest aims to up ante on expanded work jurisdiction

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The International Longshoremen’s Association says it is willing to wait as long as it takes to control the jobs it believes belong to the union at South Carolina’s new Leatherman terminal.
Longshore laborMaritimePort NewsNorth American ports

Western Canada dockworker strike disrupting billions in trade: employers

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
With the strike by ILWU Canada now in its 11th day, some C$7.5 billion in Canadian imports and exports has been compromised thus far, the British Columbia Maritime Employers Association says.
MaritimePort NewsLongshore laborNorth American ports

Holt Logistics, HMM step into bidding fray for new operator of Wilmington’s port

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
Delaware’s Port of Wilmington received an improved offer from a stevedoring firm to take over operations, but the bid faces a challenge from Holt, who claims the search process was unfair.
North American portsContainer Shipping News

California’s major container ports get $735 million in state funds for upgrades

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland will use the grant money for infrastructure projects that will promote more efficient freight movement as well as emissions-reduction efforts to meet clean-air goals.
MaritimePort NewsMarine terminalsNorth American ports

Trans-Pacific carriers altering port rotations to avoid strike-hit Vancouver

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
ILWU Canada and employers are engaging with federal mediators as a backlog of vessels builds outside of Vancouver and Seattle-Tacoma as the Western Canadian dockworker strike enters its second week.
MaritimePort NewsLongshore laborNorth American ports

Volume boost, construction snarls Jacksonville’s Blount Island drayage traffic

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor, and Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The problems flared in recent weeks after Ocean Network Express shifted a vessel service out of Jacksonville’s other primary container terminal, Dames Point, causing a volume imbalance between the two terminals.
North American portsContainer linesPort NewsPort infrastructureSurfaceTrucking News

Prior NY-NJ empty container woes linked to FMC complaint against Hapag-Lloyd

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
 The carrier is the target of another shipper complaint regarding demurrage and detention fees, this time the indirect result of empty container congestion at the Port of New York and New Jersey.
Transport, Trade, and Regulation NewsContainer Shipping NewsNorth American ports

US imports building toward August peak, but labor concerns weigh: retailers

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The Global Port Tracker says prospects for a recession in the second half of the year are dimming and imports should increase as consumer demand ticks up and retailers reduce the inventory overhang that has kept warehouses full over the past year.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificNorth American ports

US House bills keep shipping reform effort alive even after freight rate plunge

Peter Tirschwell |
Although there remain multiple obstacles to further legislation being signed into law, bipartisan support that shipping reform attracted in 2021 and 2022 has led to a situation in which certain additional provisions stand at least a 50-50 chance of being enacted this year, writes Peter Tirschwell.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesMarine terminalsNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Singapore port body joins cross-industry decarbonization alliance

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Deeper public-private sector collaboration between global maritime industry players and the MPA will unlock key investments across the Indian and Pacific oceans, Lloyd’s Register believes.
Port NewsContainer Shipping NewsInternational ports

Impact of BC port strike could deepen without Ottawa's intervention

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The strike by ILWU Canada, which entered its sixth day Thursday, is expected to have an increasing impact on Canada’s trans-Pacific trades if it drags into next week and beyond.
MaritimePort NewsLongshore laborNorth American ports

Japan’s Nagoya port resumes cargo handling operations after ransomware attack

Keith Wallis, Special Correspondent |
Ocean Network Express said container operations on three vessels were affected by the disruption, but that loading and unloading had now been completed.
Container Shipping NewsContainer linesInternational ports

Duisburg terminal stake extends PSA reach into Europe

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
The global port operator is bolstering its multimodal supply chain capabilities with an investment that increases its already significant presence in the region.
Port NewsInternational ports

Vancouver, Prince Rupert face protracted port strike as talks stalemate

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Canadian business groups are pleading for Parliament to return to Ottawa and pass back-to-work legislation to end the ILWU Canada strike, but it will likely take days for the upper and lower houses to pass such legislation, if they heed the call.
Longshore labor

USDOT awards $40M to boost port emissions reduction, surface projects

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The US Department of Transportation is funding infrastructure projects that include carbon neutralization plans, updating miles of century-old rail and improving port access roads.
Port NewsNorth American portsPort infrastructureSupply chain

Shipping industry braced for extended strike at BC ports

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
The pressure is on the Trudeau government to use its political capital to force a deal between employers and longshore workers at the ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert after the latter began a strike Saturday.
Longshore laborMaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Vessel schedule reliability to US West Coast hits two-year high: Sea-Intelligence

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Vessel on-time performance in the eastbound trans-Pacific is improving at West Coast ports, but slipping somewhat along the East Coast.
MaritimeContainer Shipping NewsContainer linesTrans-PacificNorth American ports

Trudeau’s resolve in spotlight with Western Canadian ports on brink of strike

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor |
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is generally viewed within the Canadian shipping industry as having acted too slowly — and weakly — when containerized supply chains were significantly disrupted over the last three years, notes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.
Longshore laborTrans-PacificNorth American portsRail News

European hub ports invest in terminal automation, digitization

Greg Knowler, Senior Editor Europe |
Despite the subdued market environment, the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp-Bruges expect rising volumes to place significant demand on capacity and vessel traffic management, prompting investment in both areas.
Port NewsContainer Shipping NewsInternational ports

ILWU Canada plans to strike British Columbia ports on Saturday

Michael Angell, Associate Editor |
The union filed a 72-hour strike notice, which includes the Port of Vancouver, claiming maritime employers have refused to negotiate on the main issues of compensation and automation.
Longshore laborContainer Shipping NewsNorth American ports

US DOT opens $5.6 billion in funding for projects to strengthen supply chains

Teri Errico Griffis, Associate Editor |
The funds will come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with three separate grant opportunities soliciting applications under a single program called the Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant program.
Port infrastructurePort NewsNorth American portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News