Marine terminals

Ongoing uncertainty over longshore labor on the West Coast is disrupting the long-term relationships US agricultural exporters have worked to establish with their overseas buyers.

HMM’s decision to immediately cease charging demurrage fees at closed terminals comes as the US Federal Maritime Commission is finalizing rulemaking around free time billing practices.

The Port of Hamburg is once again being disrupted by strike action that is causing significant disruption to vessel schedules at Europe’s third-largest container hub.

ILWU Canada is seeking significant wage increases, while automation of cargo-handling equipment, a source of tension in past contract negotiations, will likely once again be a prominent issue.

While the ocean shipping market has largely normalized after COVID-19, stakeholders would be wise to pursue a business strategy that takes operationally disruptive events into account, writes analyst Lars Jensen.

Longshore workers represented by ILWU Local 13 are refusing to stagger their meal breaks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, resulting in periods when no work is being done on the docks, says the Pacific Maritime Association.

Retailers say their main concern right now is to avoid over-ordering product from factories in Asia until they get a better handle on consumer demand later this summer.

Shippers struggling to manage demurrage fees and container availability information have two new options to track the status of containers at ports.

Technology startup Qualle is trying to overcome drayage industry inertia around matching empty import boxes with export loads outside of ports by using early-stage funding to serve every North American port market.

From China to West Coast labor talks to the possibility of a rate war, a number of major factors weighed heavily on trans-Pacific service contract discussions taking place on the sidelines of TPM23.

The Port of Los Angeles’ executive director acknowledged that stalled West Coast longshore labor talks are taking a toll on the port, but says the cost of shipping through California is also a big factor.

The South Carolina Ports Authority will be able to launch its proprietary chassis pool as scheduled in March thanks to a last-minute agreement to secure 5,000 chassis from two major equipment providers.

The rare joint statement comes amid growing frustration among US importers and West Coast ports that more than nine months of talks have yet to produce a new labor deal, causing a shift of cargo to ports along the East and Gulf ports.

Europe’s three biggest container shipping ports reported falling volumes in 2022, with throughput dragged lower by geopolitics, COVID-19, and economic headwinds.

The Global Shipping Business Network is giving exporters an app that would track changes to earliest return dates across container terminals that use Navis terminal operating systems.

The move by the South Carolina Ports Authority to cut hours at the Leatherman terminal comes a month after Hapag-Lloyd announced it would no longer call the facility amid an ongoing labor battle.

Rising demand from importers reckoning with the costs of detention and demurrage have fueled an $11 million investment into container management provider BlueCargo.

The port is unlikely to decide for another year or so how the terminal will be developed, meaning it could negotiate with ICTSI over its proposal or invite bids from other terminal operators.

Canada’s largest container port is on a growth trajectory in which it is forecast to hit capacity by the middle to end of this decade following average annual growth of 5 percent over the past 10 years.

The Georgia Ports Authority instituted evening truck gate hours at the Port of Savannah in 2021 to combat the import surge that resulted in more than 30 vessels anchored outside its Garden City terminal.