American Chamber Of Commerce News

Maritime Partners,a Louisiana-based provider of maritime financing solutions primarily focused on Jones Act vessels, announced the addition of Stephen J. Bordes and Greg Chase to its executive leadership team.Bordes joins Maritime Partners as its chief financial officer, and Chase as as the firm’s chief legal officer.Bordes brings to the company more than 20 years of experience in the fields of finance and fund management. Prior to joining Maritime Partners, he served as the CFO for New York-based American Industrial Partners…

Stolt-Nielsen said that, after 23 years as Chief Executive Officer, Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen will step down from his role as CEO on September 1, 2023, and will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Stolt-Nielsen Limited. He will be succeeded as CEO by Udo Lange.Lange, who will join Stolt-Nielsen as Chief Executive Officer on September 1, 2023, has more than 20 years of experience in the international trade industry, with expertise in freight forwarding, express and parcel logistics and airline catering.

APM Terminals Poti has been named the 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award winner for the Best Project in the Human Rights Category: Increasing Safety Awareness for Truck Drivers. Organised by the UN Global Compact Network and the CSR Club of Georgia, the 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards promote and support the development of corporate sustainability practices within the Republic of Georgia. This year, an independent jury evaluated 23 projects and named winners in three CSR categories: Human Rights; Environmental Protection and Successful Partnership for Sustainable Development. “Our CSR initiatives are undertaken to benefit the community and the port’s stakeholders” said APM Terminals Poti, Managing Director Klaus Holm Laursen.

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) announced that Clay Maitland will receive the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award at an awards dinner in New York on October 26. Maitland, who is a Managing Partner of International Registries, Inc (Marshall Islands Ship Registry), is being recognized for his many industry accomplishments including being a NAMEPA co-founder. “Clay is one of the finest examples in our industry of a successful businessman who expends nearly as much energy on philanthropy,” said NAMEPA Chairman Joe Hughes. Maitland has worked in the shipping industry since graduation from law school in 1968. He was employed by International Registries, Inc.

Knowledge@Wharton, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania journal, says that the transformation Panama Canal expansion project will bring to Panama’s domestic economy and society have been largely overshadowed by the historic expansion. With the opening of the long-awaited Panama project this June, all eyes are on the impact the $5.25 billion engineering marvel will have on maritime traffic across the vital international lanes that link the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. The expansion has already bolstered Panama’s efforts to become the Singapore – or perhaps Dubai – of Central America. It also promises to help to transform the role that Panama is playing for many U.S. and other foreign firms that are doing business in Central and South America.

The United States has allocated more than $120 million in military aid to the Philippines this year, the biggest in about 15 years, a senior Filipino diplomat said on Friday, amid rising tension with China over the disputed South China Sea. Jose Cuisia, Manila's ambassador to Washington, said Manila was also in talks with the United States to acquire a fourth Hamilton-class cutter to strengthen the Philippine capability to patrol the waters. "We got the largest-ever allocation from the U.S. government this year to enhance defence and security of our country," he told members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Manila. Cuisia said Manila received $79 million in annual military aid this year compared to about $50 million in 2015.

The amount of time it takes for imports to clear Indonesian ports will be reduced to 3.7 days from 4.7 days under new reforms of procedures, the chief economics minister said. The port changes were announced on Tuesday as part of an 11th package of measures President Joko Widodo's government has rolled out since September to try to improve the investment climate. Previous packages included a new formula for minimum wages, easier import rules, numerous tax incentives and a revision to the negative investment list of sectors partially or fully closed to foreign investors. Coordinating Minister for Economics Darmin Nasution said 18 government agencies with authority at ports currently have different criteria for customs checks.

Commissioner Doyle briefed the Federal Maritime Commission at today's open meeting and provided details and recent information pertaining to efforts to clarify the People's Republic of China new Value Added Tax regime. He also discussed China's interest in establishing a mutual NVOCC legal assistance and mutual bond rider recognition mechanism as well as tax concerns in connection with terminal ownership and operations. On October 28, 2013, the Annual U.S. Bilateral Maritime Consultation with the People’s Republic of China was held in Chicago, Illinois. On behalf of President Obama, the U.S.

It is time for the global maritime industry to push development of Trans Arctic Shipping Routes (TASR) and port facilities along Alaska’s northern coast. Not only for shipping goods from the Pacific to Atlantic and vice versa, but specifically to facilitate development of specialized ports for LNG exports from Alaska to global markets. Alaska has a limited maritime community mostly in the south: Southeast Alaska is a maritime community; South Central, Valdez, The Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage much less so; Southwest Alaska and Aleutians have fishing fleets and the Western, North Slope coasts and, the Interior have only marginal connections to large scale maritime activities. Nearly all Alaska’s vast energy resources, LNG and coal, are on the North Slope.

The New York/New Jersey Foreign Freight Forwarders and Brokers Association (NY/NJ FFFBA) has selected Claudio Bozzo, President and CEO of Mediterranean Shipping Company (USA) Inc., to receive the "2013 Person of the Year" Award. For nearly 100 years, this award has recognized those who have significantly impacted the region's global trade community. The award will be presented during the annual dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York on Wednesday, January 23. The dinner is one of the largest transportation industry events in the country, attracting some 900 guests every year. "Mr.

Keppel Corporation Limited (Keppel) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Tan Puay Chiang (陈培璋) as Independent Director on the Board with effect from June 20, 2012. Mr Tan, 65, is a veteran in the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector. During his 38-year career with Mobil Oil and later ExxonMobil, he held executive management roles in Australia, Singapore and the United States. These included the positions of Vice-President, Mobil Research & Technology Corp, USA and Chairman & Managing Director of Mobil Oil Australia. Mr Tan retired as Chairman, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co in 2008. Dr Lee Boon Yang, Chairman, Keppel Corporation, said, "We welcome Puay Chiang to the Board. Mr Tan is a non-executive Independent Director of Singapore Power and Neptune Orient Line.

Frank Larkin has rejoined Crowley Maritime Corporation as vice president of sales and customer care for the company's liner services and logistics groups. He is domiciled in Jacksonville and reports to Steve Collar, senior vice president and general manager, logistics; John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Latin America services; and John Douglass, senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico and Caribbean services. Leveraging his commercial background…

SGX Mainboard-listed Chemoil (SGX-ST: CHEL.SI) has appointed Veronica Valenzuela as Managing Director of one of its operating subsidiaries, Chemoil Latin America Inc. Valenzuela joined Chemoil in 2009 and has more than 30 years of industry experience, including seven years as the general manager of Chevron’s operations in Panama. She holds both MBA and CPA degrees and has also served in the past as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Panama. Valenzuela takes over this position from Andres Galavis effective immediately, following Galavis’ resignation.

As a result of the collaboration between the New Orleans U.S. Export Assistance Center and the United States Commercial Service in Colombia, representatives from the Port of South Louisiana and 12 other Louisiana-based companies with maritime-related ties participated in the Louisiana Trade Mission to Colombia, March 8-15, 2009. The Trade Mission group, led by U.S. Embassy Commercial Service Counselor Margaret Hanson-Muse, traveled to four Colombian cities – Bogotá, Cartagena…

The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce is hosting a breakfast seminar on Maritime Infrastructure & Investment Opportunities in . The seminar will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., Monday, November 3 at the New York Yacht Club in . Holland & Knight is a sponsor of the event and Stuart Dye of the firm’s office is one of the featured speakers. (Source: Holland & Knight)

Jersey at a industry-wide luncheon on April 10, 2008. Longshoremen's Association (ILA). He is a co-founder of the Maritime Stakeholders Group (MSG), a group that represents labor, management and other affiliated maritime businesses that promotes the maritime interests in the Delaware River Region in preserving maritime land for maritime use instead of residential and other commercial uses. An active member in the Philadelphia Maritime Community, Uwe has served as President of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Maritime Society, Board of Directors of the Maritime Exchange, Seamen's Church Institute and Chilean/American Chamber of Commerce and as a Trustee of the PMTA-ILA Funds.

The Trade Capacity Building Institute in New Orleans, in conjunction with the American Chamber of Commerce Guatemala and the Hispanic Chamber of Louisiana, reported a recent trade mission resulted in more than $3.3 million in new business for four Guatemalan small- and medium-sized businesses and Louisiana trading partners. Several other companies represented on the mission are currently negotiating new business contracts, as well. Marcia Sergent, director of the institute, said a result of the mission included training for more than 35 businesses in the Central American country, in which U.S. business owners helped teach their counterparts international trade laws.

Claudia Kattán de Jordán, general manager, Honduras and Nicaragua, for Crowley Maritime Corporation's liner services group, and Cal Sweep, director of facilities development for the corporation in Jacksonville, were awarded 2005 Thomas Crowley trophies, the company's highest honor, at ceremonies last week in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Created 20 years ago, the Thomas Crowley Trophy award honors employees with outstanding performance, whose dedication, leadership, initiative and productivity most clearly reflect those of the company's founder. The trophy, a limited edition, bronze sculpture depicting young Thomas Crowley as he ferried goods to and from ships on San Francisco Bay in the early 1890s, is a tribute to the founder of the company as well as the winners of the award.

The Panama Canal will be run as a competitive business for the benefit of the Panamanian people after it reverts to national control at year's end, the waterway's administrator said. "The Canal was run before on a break-even concept, like a public utility," Panama Canal Commission (PCC) administrator Alberto Aleman Zubieta told a lunch for members of the American Chamber of Commerce. "But it will be run on the corporate concept of profitability ... for the 2.7 million Panamanians who will be its owners." Panama will become owner and operator of the canal at noon on Dec. 31, when the U.S. hands over the waterway as agreed in a 1977 treaty.

Hyundai Group will start ferrying foreign tourists to North Korea's fabled Kumgang Mountain starting on Oct. 23, the group announced. "We have issued invitations to about 20 to 30 diplomats, businessmen and other foreigners currently residing in Korea," said Hyundai Group spokesman Yoo Keun-chan. He said they included Jeffrey Jones, the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea. Jones said last week his business group was planning a ground-breaking trip north of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas to examine business opportunities, after Washington relaxed long-standing trade sanctions against the communist Pyongyang.

Contractor of the Year Award from the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce (GLAAACC). The award was presented to the company's Newport News sector for its long-standing practice of contributing to the economic growth and development of the African American community. News, accepted the award on behalf of the company. an equal basis with larger, traditional suppliers in the market place. essential part of our business culture and success. million with minority suppliers in 2002. us and we value them greatly as part of our business team. win-win," Shephard said. Va., May 5-7, 2003. develop business opportunities. Commerce," GLAAACC Chairman Gene Hale said.

Drew Marine, a division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Company, recently announced two promotions in its Boonton, N.J., headquarters. Ron Ieva, who has held positions at Drew Marine as senior product manager, area manager for the Southeast and Caribbean, and cruise industry business manager, has been promoted to regional sales manager for the Americas. Mike Cassaras, who has been southeast and Caribbean area manager and regional sales manager for the Americas, will now assume global responsibility as business manager for Drew Marine Safety. BSME from the Marine Maritime Academy. After attending the University of Florida, Cassaras began his career in the marine industry in 1975. Prior to his positions at Drew, he was President and Founder of Atlas Marine Services, Inc.