Port News

The carrier’s investment, announced while its chief executive met at the White House with President Donald Trump, comes amid heightened political sensitivities in the US as far as the container shipping industry is concerned.

The bleak timeline from Europe’s busiest port is based on the chaos that resulted when the Ever Given was freed after six days of blocking the Suez Canal in 2021.

The massive deal includes Hutchison’s 90% interests in the Panama Ports Company, which owns and operates the ports of Balboa and Cristobal on the Pacific and Atlantic entrances to the Panama Canal and has been the object of recent scrutiny from the Trump administration.

Should the Trump administration’s proposal be implemented, capacity will have to be withdrawn from the US and redeployed to where it makes more economical sense, the CEO of the world’s largest ocean carrier said.

The carrier’s new investment push seems to be an attempt to catch up with its peers, particularly MSC, which has dedicated terminals at Mundra and Ennore/Chennai through joint venture arrangements with Adani.

Cheetah Chassis and Stoughton Trailers contend that the same trade practices that led to an influx of low-cost Chinese chassis are now occurring with imports from the other three nations, causing significant financial harm to US producers.

The cost of the US Trade Representative’s proposal for levying fees on Chinese ships and ocean carriers would fall to US shippers, who would also face fewer service options, the analyst says.

Labor peace at US East and Gulf coast ports is now ensured through September 2030 after the union’s rank and file approved the new labor agreement.

Shipper, forwarder and customs broker associations want to see the members of the Digital Container Shipping Association accelerate efforts to create interoperable process standards.

The tonnage injection comes amid an uptick in Asian manufacturers expanding business in Latin America, particularly Mexico.

The FMC’s modified ruling in the TCW-Evergreen complaint allows room for carriers to charge late fees during port closures if the fees are reasonable.

The US Trade Representative said the proposed fees are designed to counter China’s influence over the global shipbuilding and maritime industry.

Cargo tracking shows no clear advantage for Chinese-based ocean carriers transiting the critical waterway, throwing doubt on the US president’s claims of China’s influence, according to a report from the visibility data provider.

The provincial government is looking to reignite the long-delayed Contrecoeur project, saying Montreal needs more capacity and new trade partners.

Robust automobile, steel and wind power equipment movements in 2024 put US ports on a strong footing, but tariffs and a shift in government priorities could temper progress this year.

The port’s recently approved five-year strategic plan details infrastructure, transloading and maritime support activities that it hopes will spur cargo growth by making the Northern California gateway more attractive to importers.

As the new US administration looks to strengthen its regional sphere of influence, bipartisan political support is building to boost US shipbuilding, and thus, the country’s ability to project power in the Arctic and reduce dependence on foreign carriers.

SeaLead is offering a new service from Turkey after Hapag-Lloyd ended one of its standalone loops following the launch of the Gemini alliance with Maersk.

The congestion is making it difficult for truckers to return empty containers and puts shippers at risk for late fees on empty returns and import retrievals.

Full ships from China are arriving as labor action roils container handling at major hubs in Rotterdam and throughout France, with the disruption exacerbated by bad weather.

But with a large drop in imports forecast for the second half of February, terminal operators say they will get dwell times and cargo fluidity back to normal by the end of the month.

But Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said US port cargo “could be badly hit” if tariffs on Asian and European countries increase prices and prompt US consumers to buy less.

The proposed Edgemoor container terminal was slated for groundbreaking in January, but the project timeline is now uncertain after a federal judge ruled its permit was unlawful in a case brought by the nearby Port of Philadelphia.

Forwarders say shippers are booking space to the US for low-value commodities such as plywood, tile and paper, which prior to the rate drop had been limited to less-expensive routes.

Sources at Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd in India have confirmed that feeder services for the Bangladesh trade have not been included in the new network structure.

A new report from software vendor Kaleris has found that terminal operators around the globe believe they are providing better visibility data than shippers say are they receiving.

The ocean carrier is diving into domestic intermodal logistics for shippers sending freight from inland markets to the West Coast.

The latest move by the port involves a proposal by intermodal logistics provider IntermodeX to develop a transload facility near Prince Rupert’s Fairview Container Terminal that is designed to primarily attract import containers.

Sources tell the Journal of Commerce the union will convene a midweek meeting in Florida of its local wage scale committees across the 14 ports under its jurisdiction.

The breakbulk sector can lean on the progress of key US ports in facilitating the safe bunkering of next generation alternative shipping fuels

The planned development in Eastern Canada marks the latest stage in a nearly two-year-old partnership between the company and the Class I railroad.

Ports in the UK are already seeing rising operational delays as a string of storms moves in from the Atlantic and major ports in Europe issue high wind warnings.

The comments by Louis Sola during a Senate hearing come amid rising US scrutiny of Chinese influence over the crucial waterway.

The former Wisconsin congressman and Fox Business host was confirmed by a 77-22 vote on Tuesday.

The arrangement allows international carriers to transship domestic import and export cargoes at Shanghai’s Yangshan deepwater port from selected ports in northern China.

Each month of last year saw reliability degrade compared with the corresponding month in 2023, although 2024 carried the burden of vessel diversions around southern Africa as carriers avoided the Suez Canal and Red Sea.

The Belgian port has restored the throughput that was lost following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, filling the gap in part by capturing market share from its northern range rivals.

While a bit softer since the start of the year, rates are not falling at the same pace they were in the second half of 2024 when prices plummeted from almost $11,000 per FEU in early August.

President Donald Trump injecting himself into longshore labor talks and his recent threat to take over the Panama Canal are a precursor to the unpredictability container shipping will face over the next four years, writes Journal of Commerce Executive Editor Mark Szakonyi.

Officials at Los Angeles and Long Beach say they are prepared to do what is necessary should the new administration target green policies at the ports.