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

Maritime

The Journal of Commerce is the industry’s source for maritime news and analysis about ocean container shipping, logistics, supply chains, global shipping ports, shipping technology solutions and end-to-end connectivity. Coverage tracks the movement of containerized cargo — from origin to destination — handled by marine terminals in the US and abroad, depots, container ports, container lines, drayage, consignees and shippers, forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs) and off-dock warehousing providers, as well as pricing, capacity, volume and reliability on the trans-Pacific, Asia-Europe, North America-Caribbean, Central and South American and intra-Asia trades.

Subsections

The latest Maritime News & Analysis

Maersk exec says big ships are 'an opportunity'

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor |
Big container ships are necessary and here to stay, so marine terminals, ocean carriers and cargo interests must cooperate to ensure that logjams at ports, a Maersk Line executive said.
Container lines

India's export slide continues with double-digit plunge

JOC Staff |
India’s global merchandise exports tumbled 20.7 percent year-over-year in August, the ninth straight month of declines, even as the Narendra Modi-led government continues to roll out new schemes to stimulate trade and economic growth.
Container lines

India's Mundra port gains new Maersk call

JOC Staff |
Mundra International Container Terminal, a major gateway for India’s northwestern hinterlands, this week celebrated the first ship call of the Far East-Middle East, or FM3, service, a fixed-day, weekly intra-Asia loop by Maersk Line.
Container lines

Jaxport to handle first Porsche cars in October

Reynolds Hutchins, Associate Editor |
The first Porsches will roll off at the port of Jacksonville in October after Florida used millions of dollars in incentives to lure the German automaker and its parent company, Volkswagen, away from the nearby port of Brunswick, Georgia.
North American ports

APMT doubling Liberia terminal capacity as demand rockets

Dustin Braden, Assistant Web Editor |
Expecting a 27 percent jump in container volume for this year, APM Terminals is spending $34.5 million over the next two years to double capacity at its facility at the Port of Monrovia, the only Liberian container gateway.
Marine terminals

Global TV shipments, US imports drop, IHS data show

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor |
A year-over-year drop in worldwide TV shipments underscores the link between shifts in global currency values, consumer sentiment and shipping volumes.
ForwardingMaritime

APMT gains toehold in Turkey with new container terminal

Andrew Spurrier, Special Correspondent |
APM Terminals hopes that the opening of its Turkish container terminal at Petkim Port,near İzmir on Turkey’s west coast, in early 2016 will be just the first phase of its expansion in the country.
Marine terminals

Puerto Rico pushes for Jones Act exemption in debt restructuring plan

John Gallagher, Special Correspondent |
The U.S. Congress would no longer require U.S.-flag vessels to move goods between the mainland and Puerto Rico under a five-year debt restructuring plan proposed Wednesday by Puerto Rican Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
Container linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Slide show: Top 10 fastest-growing US export ports

JOC Staff |
Among the Top 10 fastest-growing U.S. export ports in the first half of 2015 are a number of smaller ports that don’t typically get the spotlight. The first half was particularly kind to the ports of Virginia, Houston, Baltimore, Miami and Charleston, as they also ranked in our Top 10 fastest-growing U.S. import ports.
North American ports

US ports that don’t invest will miss the mega-ships, Charleston port chief says

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The head of one of the fastest-growing ports said the days of U.S. ports gateways unwilling or unable to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure to become a top 10 port are limited. Without major investments in deeper harbors, larger terminals, taller cranes and extensive rail and highway infrastructure, ports will literally miss the boat in the era of big ships, said Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority.
North American ports

Merger indications begin to emerge as CSCL, Cosco extend trading halt

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Shares of China Shipping Container Lines and Cosco will remain suspended on the Hong Kong and Shanghai bourses for another month as the mainland’s two largest carriers continue their “robust contemplation” of material matters they have been discussing since 9 am on Aug. 10.
Maritime

As Hong Kong volumes continue dropping, Yantian sees growth

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Container volumes in Hong Kong maintained their steady downward trend in August, falling by 10 percent compared to the same month last year even as the number of boxes handled by neighbouring rival Yantian continued to grow.
Port News

Charleston port gets federal OK to deepen channel

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The Army Corps of Engineers declared the Port of Charleston's deepening project to be economically and environmentally feasible on Monday, clearing the way to the project to move ahead pending the securing of needed federal and state funding.
North American ports

Virginia port volume growth slows

Reynolds Hutchins, Associate Editor |
Container volume gains at the Port of Virginia slowed significantly in August from their torrid pace earlier this year, when the Southeastern U.S. port was flush with cargo diverted from the West Coast.
North American ports

Strong Oakland August volumes suggest shippers are returning

JOC Staff |
Laden containers imported through the Port of Oakland in August rose 15.1 percent year-over-year, giving the port its sixth straight month of inbound traffic gains and suggesting shippers may be returning some cargo to the West Coast during the peak shipping season.
North American ports

Mombasa government pushes for steep port fees

JOC Staff |
Shippers moving good through the rapidly-growing port of Mombasa may soon have to pay steep new fees if the governor of the port’s county has his way, a move that could shift cargo to rival Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
International portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

India to permit foreign ro-ro vessels for coastal operations

JOC Staff |
New Delhi on Monday approved relaxing its cabotage law to allow foreign roll-on, roll-off ship operators to offer coastal services, another big step by the Narendra Modi-led government to reduce supply chain bottlenecks.
Container linesTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Jacksonville considers moving TraPac to slash dredging costs

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor, JOC.com |
The port of Jacksonville, seeing an opportunity to save hundreds of millions on harbor deepening, has asked a terminal operator to consider relocating closer to the mouth of the harbor.
North American ports

Global Ports, revenue, profit slump on Russia economic woes

Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent |
Global Ports’ revenue shrank by a quarter in the first half of the year as Russia’s largest container terminal operator posted sharply lower cargo volumes as the nation’s troubled economy continued to contract.
Marine terminals

HMM adds Khalifa to Korea-Middle East service

JOC Staff |
Hyundai Merchant Marine extended its Korea-Middle East, or KMS, service to include a regular call at Abu Dhabi Terminals-operated Khalifa Port Container Terminal, starting this month.
Container lines

Cheap fuel erodes mega-ship slot cost benefits, Drewry says

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
The falling price of fuel has turned on its head the assumption that mega vessels automatically generate lower slot costs than smaller vessels, as data from Dreary shows that the slot cost advantage enjoyed by the bigger vessels has been slashed in half.
Maritime

New round of canceled Asia-Europe sailings by G6 carriers

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
The G6 Alliance has announced another raft of canceled sailings on Asia-Europe in October and November as carriers face a poor final quarter on the battered trade lane that will round off a dismal second half.
Container lines

Good news hard to find in China’s slowing economy

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
China’s economic indicators continue to portray a country struggling against weak domestic and external demand with growth in factory output falling short of market expectations and offering little encouragement to declining exports.
Container lines

Brazil’s Sepetiba Tecon expands, adds options for shippers

Robert Ward, Special Correspondent |
The Brazilian port of Sepetiba Tecon expects to double its container throughput in the second half of 2015 and should top 300,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units by year’s end.
International portsMaritime

Record August traffic suggests shippers returning to LA

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
The Port of Los Angeles recorded its strongest August container volume since the peak year of 2006, as traffic rose 3.8 percent compared to the same period in 2015.
North American ports

Eastbound trans-Pacific spot rates fall despite rising demand

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
Eastbound trans-Pacific spot freight rates softened a bit this week even as volume rose, sending an ominous signal to carriers hoping to cash in on holiday season merchandise imports.
Container lines

Effort to increase San Francisco bar pilot pay pushed back a year

Dustin Braden, Assistant Web Editor |
A motion to increase the pay for San Francisco Bar Pilots has been shelved, meaning shipowners whose ships transit San Francisco Bay won’t face the risk of having to pay more in pilotage fees for at least another year.
Longshore labor

Baltimore cargo rises on strong dollar, East Coast diversions

JOC Staff |
The Port of Baltimore’s full container volume in 20-foot-equivalent units rose 6 percent year-over-year during the first seven months of this year, as a strong dollar and diversions from congested East Coast ports fueled a surge in import traffic.
North American ports

Emirates Shipping adds Laem Chabang to Africa service

JOC Staff |
Emirates Shipping Line has added a direct port call at Laem Chabang, Thailand to its Asia-Tanzania Express, or ATX, service, as the Middle East carrier seeks to capitalize on growing trade volumes to East Africa.
International ports

Yang Ming opts for five 14,000 TEUs vessels instead of mega-ships

Angela Yu, Special Correspondent |
<p>The vessels, priced at $125 million each, are scheduled for delivery in 2018 and 2019.</p>
Container lines

Union protests to close Finland's ports next week

John Pagni, Special Correspondent |
Finland ports, already suffering from container traffic declines, are set to get hit with another blow when they shut down Sept. 18 as part of a protest by the country's three big trade union federations against the government's labor reform program.
International ports

Consultant note: German ports grapple for market share

Diana Illing, consultant, IHS Maritime & Trade, Germany |
Port productivity and the ability to handle mega-ships are key drivers for shipping lines in selecting routes and ports of call and German ports must adapt to this new reality if they are to remain competitive.
International ports

DP World Cochin cuts free time for imports to relieve congestion

JOC Staff |
DP World-operated Vallarpadam International Container Terminal at India’s Port of Cochin received long-awaited regulatory approval to reduce the number of free days allotted to laden import containers in an effort to ease congestion and improve terminal productivity.
International ports

Two weeks of rate gains on Asia-Europe come crashing to an end

Greg Knowler, Senior Europe Editor |
Spot rates on the Asia to Europe and the Mediterranean crashed this week, giving back most of the gains made since the September 1 general rate increase, according to the latest reading of the Shanghai Containerised Freight Index.
Container lines

Protesting truck drivers disrupt Toronto cargo deliveries

Reynolds Hutchins, Associate Editor |
A group of truck drivers protesting their classification as independent drivers are disrupting Toronto-area container deliveries by blocking trucking terminals.
Trucking NewsContainer lines

Record Long Beach port volume suggests importers returning for peak season

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor |
After struggling through terminal congestion and labor disputes this past year, the nearly 23 percent year-over-year jump in volume through the Port of Long Beach in August, pushing traffic to a record high for the second month in a row, suggests importers are coming back for peak season.
North American ports

Port Canaveral CEO apologizes for calling expansion opponents ‘Luddites’

Joseph Bonney, Senior Editor |
Port Canaveral CEO John Walsh apologized for ridiculing opponents of the Florida port’s plans for a new rail line as “radical” and “Luddites.”
North American ports

Tianjin volume plunges as clean-up effort progresses

Angela Yu, Special Correspondent |
Container throughput at China’s port of Tianjin, the world’s 10th busiest, plunged 28 percent year-over-year in August as recovery and clean-up efforts from last month’s deadly explosion continue.
International ports

Effort to keep Brazilian port ministry independent gains powerful ally

Rob Ward, Special Correspondent |
Stakeholders striving to keep Brazil’s government from integrating the Special Ports Ministry, or SEP, with the Ministry of Transport have gained a powerful ally in Murillo Barbosa, head of the Association of Private Terminals.
International portsTransport, Trade, and Regulation News

Cosco ramps up mega-ship ambitions with order for 11 vessels

Angela Yu, Special Correspondent |
Cosco, China's largest shipping company, Wednesday ramped up its mega-ship ambitions by placing a $1.5 billion order for eleven 19,000 twenty-foot-equivalent unit container vessels, expanding its ultra-large containership orderbook from 11 to 20.
Container lines