Terminal Operators

Local political groups and trade unions leading the strike have, in their public announcements, stated that demonstrators will stage blockades at port entry/exit points to halt operations.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. will lead a revamped, upsized weekly route connecting India, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean, under a vessel-sharing agreement with CMA CGM and Cosco Shipping Lines.

Blockchain is one of the most-often discussed topics in the shipping industry. Proponents argue it has the potential to transform shipping and supply chain management, among many other uses. JOC senior technology editor Eric Johnson provided a primer on the subject at the recently completed JOC Logistics Technology Conference in Las Vegas.

The new consortium, powered by Oracle Cloud Blockchain Service, involves CMA CGM, Cosco Shipping (and subsidiary brand OOCL), Evergreen Marine, and Yang Ming, and the lines represent about one-third of total global container ship capacity.

What triggered the walkout in the Baltimore terminal, which is operated by Ports America Chesapeake, is unclear, but the job action is a reminder that although the signing of the six-year master contract was seen as a harbinger of stability along the two coasts, disputes over local issues and actions can intervene.

Itajai this year has received seven roll-on, roll-off vessels and is slated to handle more through November and December.

The port said it is working with Maher Terminals and Port Newark Container Terminal, the two terminals in the port that use straddle carriers, to create a vehicle that would be programmed to recharge itself after making a certain number of container moves.

Money can address some factors, but until several key checkpoints in a container’s journey address operational inefficiencies, bottlenecks will persist, consultants and industry executives said at the JOC Inland Distribution Conference this week.

“Railroads and ports are spending billions of dollars for infrastructure. All of that of that is great, but let’s focus more on what is needed to get drivers into and out of the port. Railroads should look at their in-gates and out-gates. Most of the delays occur in the queue lines,” Patrick Maher, executive vice president of Gulf Winds International, told attendees at the JOC Inland Distribution Conference 2018 on Tuesday.

The new Amsterdam link will provide greater service resilience for the Netherlands-Italy rail option, as the connections to the two Dutch ports will run on different routes, enabling a flexible response to any rail-related or port-related delays, according to Samskip UK trade manager David Besseling.

The impasse occurred after the company fired a large number of contract workers — reportedly 99 — as part of an operational realignment to reduce costs and improve profitability.

PierPass, the oldest extended-gates program in North America, was launched in 2005 to increase throughput capacity at the largest US port complex while diverting a sizable portion of the truck traffic from the peak daytime hours in order to relieve traffic congestion on local freeways and roads.

Gulftainer has big plans for its Wilmington, Delaware facility. And although port competition abounds, if lower costs and a quick rail or truck trip from Delaware to the New York-Washington, DC hinterlands ensue, shippers would no doubt take notice.

The International Longshoremen’s Association’s boycott of the 44th Congress of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, which begins Sunday, provides additional evidence that the introduction of further automation will not be a quick and simple process.

Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal, which commenced full-fledged operations in February, increased volume substantially — powered by more ship calls — and notched a new, impressive quayside productivity rate, on the strength of crane upgrades.

Dwell times at Vancouver rail facilities are approaching last winter’s levels, when port congestion was the worst in years, but terminal operators say the factors driving the current delays are not a harbinger.

Global port-moves-per-hour, the top-line measure of port call productivity, decreased 4 percent, effectively meaning ships spent an extra 70,000 hours in port in the first half of 2018 compared with the first half of 2017, according to an analysis of JOC Port Productivity data.