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Ship finance is so scarce that the glut of vessel capacity that’s depressing freight rates in the major east-west trades this year could vanish by 2016 unless shipowners and shipping lines find new ways to finance orders for the fuel-efficient ships they’ll need if they hope to lower their costs.

Ask a 3PL and a technology provider to define what a supply chain control tower is and you’ll likely get two different answers. But while the definition may vary, there’s no doubt that the concept is attracting growing interest from 3PLs and technology providers alike amid increasing signs that a stronger economic recovery is approaching.

Taiwan has introduced new legislation, effective July 15, that will lift its ban on imports of live birds from the European Union.

The Dow Chemical Co. and Union Pacific have released a report on the progress of their memorandum of cooperation that began in 2007 to improve rail safety and security.

After declining steadily for 30 years, manufacturing employment in the U.S. is stabilizing and will have a positive impact on the economy and on demand for industrial real estate space in the coming decade, according to a study by the NAIOP Research Foundation.

Brazil’s Congress has approved a port reform package, the Provisional Measure of the Ports, that will provide a new legal and institutional framework to increase the nation’s port system efficiency and reduce port-related logistics costs.

The Port of Long Beach’s board of harbor commissioners has appointed Al Moro, chief harbor engineer, as the California port’s interim executive director. His appointment will take effect following a formal vote on June 17.

Allcargo Logistics, an Indian logistics subsidiary of The Avvashya Group, has appointed Ajit Jangle as its group chief operating officer.

Lenovo Group, a China-based PC maker, has celebrated the opening of its first U.S.-based manufacturing operation in North Carolina, ABC News reports.

Suddath Global Logistics, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based warehousing and logistics management company, has acquired PenserSC, a third-party logistics provider.

Con-way Freight has opened a new service center in Lumberton, N.C.

The Port of New York and New Jersey and Norfolk Southern are discussing the possibility of making an intermodal railyard in Bethlehem, Pa., an inland port, The Morning Call reports.

Members of the Maritime Labor Alliance have unanimously appointed Don Marcus, president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, as president.

If shippers want to blunt rising transportation costs, and carriers want more sustainable profits, they need to learn to connect not just the dots but also the bytes.

Global ocean carriers handled more than 4.2 million 20-foot-equivalent units of U.S. containerized imports in the first quarter, and the separation between the Top 2 carriers in the trade came down to two fully laden mega-ships.

After more than a decade of frustration and delays, the Coast Guard is pressing on with efforts to turn the much-maligned Transportation Worker Identification Credential into more than a pricey photo ID.

The volume of U.S. beef exports in April was 86,433 metric tons, down 9 percent year-over-year, and export value was $434.8 million, down 7 percent compared with the value in April 2012...

Cucumber exports from Mexico’s Yucatán state reached a record high this past season, according to Grup Marítim TCB.

Yourway Transport will expand its biopharmaceutical services in Lehigh Valley, Pa., according to Pennsylvania’s Gov. Tom Corbett.

ACF Industries has reopened its rail car manufacturing plant in Milton, Pa., after it was closed in 2009 because of declining sales.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, NBIM, and the European arm of U.S. commercial property group Prologis have acquired a $385 million portfolio of warehouses in the U.K.

Employment in transportation and warehousing climbed 1.4 percent in May, as the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

China has launched an anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigation into wines imported from the European Union, Xinhua reports.

APM Terminals, which operates Pipavav port and a container terminal at Nhava Sheva port, has unveiled plans to expand its inland terminal services business in India.

The Port of Felixstowe has opened a new rail terminal, doubling rail capacity at the U.K. container port.

A corporate bond issued by Rickmers Holding is trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after raising 175 million euros ($231 million) for the Hamburg-based shipping company.

The Port of Los Angeles and the Hamburg Port Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding to increase bilateral cooperation.

With pension funds and investment trusts buying more warehouses and distribution centers, “true” developers of industrial real estate are becoming harder to find, according to industry executives.

Cryoport reported a net loss of $6.4 million in fiscal year 2013, ending March 31, 2013, improving from a net loss of $7.8 million in fiscal year 2012, ending March 31, 2012.

An uneven, anemic economic recovery, spending cuts driven by the federal sequester and winter storms all threw up roadblocks for trucking operators in the first quarter, slowing the industry’s drive toward greater profitability.

The first of Maersk’s 20-strong Triple E vessels is currently undergoing sea trials in Korea.

A strike earlier this week at the leading Indonesia gateway port of Tanjung Priok is continuing to cause truck bottlenecks, according to forwarders.

Container ship lines are supporting a state legislative effort to repeal a cargo facilities charge that carriers say is costing them millions of dollars a year at the Port of New York and New Jersey.

Shreyas Shipping and Logistics, India’s leading coastal container carrier and multimodal logistics company, posted a consolidated net profit of Rs. 15.40 crore (about $2.75 million) in fiscal year 2012-13, up 175 percent from $1 million a year earlier.

Throughput at India’s Port of Mumbai fell 19 percent year-over-year in the first two months of fiscal year 2013-14, the port authority said in a statement this week.