Transportation Service Providers News

The Maryland Port Administration (MPA), Port of Baltimore, officially joined the Council for Dredging and Marine Construction Safety (CDMCS), a national unified safety voice for the dredging and marine construction industry.The Port of Baltimore is one of the busiest seaports in the United States, handling every type of cargo at its public and private terminals. Currently, Baltimore is in the execution phase of more than $200 million in marine construction, dredging and infrastructure upgrades at Seagirt, Dundalk and Locust Point Marine Terminals.

The Port of Prince Rupert today announced it has signed a feasibility assessment agreement with SSA Marine and its wholly-owned subsidiary Western Stevedoring to explore the viability of a breakbulk and bulk import/export terminal located on Kaien Island at the Port of Prince Rupert. “Ongoing cargo diversification is one of the highest priorities for the Port of Prince Rupert, and the potential for the return of breakbulk and general cargoes capacity to the Port of Prince Rupert represents a clear response to growing market demand in Western Canada,” said Don Krusel, President & CEO of the Port of Prince Rupert. The terminal project has been part of the Port’s Gateway 2020 development planning and is integrated with the Ridley Island Road, Rail and Utility Corridor.

Organizers of Jacksonville Port Authority's (JAXPORT) biennial 'Logistics & Intermodal Conference' have released the list of panel topics for discussion at the upcoming 2015 conference. The overall theme for 2015 is "Challenges Facing Shippers in South Atlantic Ports,” and the conference will feature five panel discussions sharing insights, solutions and successes. Panelists will be announced soon and will include senior executives from major ocean carriers, railroads, shippers and service providers. JAXPORT’s conference is designed for senior level executives in logistics and transportation, offering a unique opportunity to network with industry leaders and hear speakers from around the country discussing topics of interest to decision makers.

Last week Commissioner William P. Doyle of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) briefed the full Commission with a report on his work seeking clarity and certainty on the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) implementation of the Value Added Tax (VAT) as it relates to maritime commerce. Doyle informed the Commission that the Chinese government was expected to clarify its position on the VAT that has confused the shipper and carrier communities. On December 13, 2013, the PRC released Circular 106, which supersedes Circular 37 effective January 1, 2014.

Horizon Lines' financial report shows volume improves 3.4%, & rate, net of fuel up 2.9% from a year ago. "Horizon Lines generated a 3.4% improvement in container volume and a 2.9% increase in container revenue, net of fuel surcharges, for the third quarter, relative to the same period a year ago," said Sam Woodward, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Volume increases in Hawaii and Alaska offset volume weakness in Puerto Rico. However, third-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $27.0 million declined by $6.0 million from a year ago, largely due to $4.6 million of incremental transit and crew costs associated with dry-docking three Puerto Rico vessels in China.

Much as has transpired in mainstream consumer markets, the dot com craze has recently enveloped the maritime world with promises of cost savings and operational efficiencies. While an attrition and natural process of consolidation can eventually be expected, the world of e-commerce solutions for the maritime market is definitely in its infancy. While it is impossible to judge the full working models in this report, the following text contains synopsis reports on some of the more noteworthy market entrants. Recently launched by Boston-based WebPark Corp., Boat-Park.com is an on-line virtual trade show, which seeks to bring together worldwide participants into its virtual trade show, which is open 24/7.

Power2Ship Inc. announced their collaboration with L-3 Communications on a solution for secure and efficient container transportation worldwide. This solution is targeted to meet the recent Department of Homeland Security objective outlined by Secretary Chertoff for supply chain security. Since its creation, the Department of Homeland Security has created programs to safeguard our borders from threats. However, securing the movement of containers through the ports and across highways and rail systems has proven much more difficult. "Our risk-based solution focuses on both the containers and on all of the related transportation service providers in the supply chain," commented Michael Darden, President, Power2Ship, Inc.

A panel of National Security experts released a report concluding that the United States seaports, among other things, are still vulnerable to a major terrorist attack. While this may be true, since over 200 million containers move through top American seaports annually and only a small number of ships and containers are actually inspected, the industry seems to be responding positively to the war on terrorism. Over 750 importers and transportation providers (Ocean, air, and rail) have signed up for the U.S. Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and over half of the 20 mega-ports have signed up for U.S. Custom's Container Security Initiative (CSI).