Terminal Operations News

The IMO's Facilitation Committee held its 48th session (FAL 48) from April 8 to 12, in person at IMO Headquarters in London.The Facilitation Committee (FAL) meets annually to deal with matters related to the facilitation of international maritime traffic, including the arrival, stay and departure of ships, persons and cargo from ports. The Committee also addresses electronic business and aims to ensure that the right balance is struck between regulation and the facilitation of international maritime trade.

Mazda Motor will probably have to temporarily move shipments to another port from Baltimore to avoid delays, the automaker's CEO said in a CNBC interview.The Port of Baltimore ranks first in the U.S. for volume of autos and light trucks and farm and construction machinery handled and a cargo ship crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March has restricted shipments.However, CEO Masahiro Moro said Mazda does not currently expect a big impact from the port shutdown.U.S. automakers…

The IMO Facilitation Committee will meet in person at IMO Headquarters in London for its 48th session (FAL 48) from April 8 to 12 to discuss issues related to autonomous shipping; prevention of illegal wildlife trafficking on ships; digitalization initiatives and the implementation of the Maritime Single Window and Port Community Systems.The Facilitation Committee (FAL) will continue discussions around regulating commercial vessels that can operate independent of human interaction - Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS).

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it expects to open a new channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April, freeing up commercial shipping blocked by a collapsed bridge, and then restore port access to full capacity by the end of May.The main channel has been blocked by wreckage since the fully loaded container ship Dali lost power and rammed into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, killing six road workers and causing the highway bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River.The Army Corps…

Norwegian car shipping firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen estimates a $5 million to $10 million hit to core earnings from last week's U.S. Baltimore bridge collapse and expects the key ship channel to be closed for weeks, it said on Wednesday.The company said its vessel Carmen - which according to shipping data is among the biggest car carriers in its fleet - remained stuck in Baltimore's port, with the ship and its crew ready to sail as soon as the channel was reopened.Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday…

Recovery teams opened a second channel enabling smaller vessels to navigate the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday but most commercial shipping remains blocked by the collapsed bridge and stranded container ship that brought the structure down a week ago.A team including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Maryland announced crews had cleared a channel with a depth of 14 feet (4.3 meters), similar to the 11-foot channel opened on the opposite side of…

Earlier this year, 30-year Port Houston veteran Jeff Davis announced his retirement as Chief Port Operations Officer. The port's Executive Director Roger Guenther has subsequently announced the promotion of two long-term, well-regarded members of Port Houston’s executive leadership team to vital roles to ensure sustained operations and exceptional service.Ryan Mariacher, a 20-year employee and formerly Director of Container Terminal Operations, was promoted to Chief Port Operations Officer.

The Great Lakes Towing Company (GLT) has hired Salvadore Menoyo for its business development team.Sal has been named Vice President-Special Projects, reporting to Joe Starck, President of GLT. He will be based in Jacksonville, Fla. and use his extensive experience and expertise to identify, develop and manage new business opportunities on the East Coast, including the Gulf and Puerto Rico. In this new role, Menoyo will work with internal and external customers and build relationships with partners and other prospects to bring value and growth to the company.Menoyo…

Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District announced it signed a letter of intent (LOI) with APM Terminals (APMT) to build a container terminal on the West Bank of Plaquemines Parish, La.Plaquemines Port will lease the land to APM under a 30-year agreement with extension options. APMT, one of the largest terminal operators in the world and is a subsidiary of shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk, estimates the initial investment in terminal infrastructure will be approximately $500 million…

Dutch tank storage company Vopak has signed an initial agreement with Japan's IHI Corporation to explore the development and operation of ammonia terminals, as they expect demand for the low-carbon fuel to grow amid energy transition.The companies will lean on their experience in building ammonia storage tanks and terminals to focus on developing large-scale ammonia storage terminals that will allow for economical distribution of the fuel, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.They…

Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards has recently delivered three ASD Tugs to Poland’s WUZ Ports and Maritime Services.“On the 19th of October, the flag raising ceremony for three new ASD Tugs took place in Gdansk, Poland. In the presence of a large group of Polish and international associates and company employees, the new tugs were welcomed into the fleet. This followed the christening ceremony of the second ASD Tug 2811 that took place in September in Rotterdam. Named Pax (in Latin "Peace”)…

The sailaway ceremony for the Tango floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit and Excalibur floating storage unit (FSU) was held Saturday to mark the vessels' sail away from Dubai to Congo, where they will serve Eni's Congo LNG project, whose first phase will start in December 2023.Tango FLNG, which has a liquefaction capacity of approximately 1 billion cubic meters per annum of gas (BCMA), will be moored 3 kilometers offshore along with the Excalibur FSU upon their arrival to Congo.EXMAR is serving as the engineering, procurement and conversion (EPC) contractor for this project, and has desi

CMA CGM announced it has finalized its acquisition of two container terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey as the France-based shipping and logistics group grows its supply chain presence in the United States.The company announced in December 2022 that it struck a deal to acquire the Bayonne and New York terminals from Canada's Global Container Terminals (GCT). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but media reports indicated the deal could be worth around $3 billion."Through this strategic investment…

A port call made by CMA CGM Liberty at the Honmoku D4 terminal in Yokohama on Monday is the first by a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered containership in Japan. At 15,000-TEU, the containership also ranks amongst the largest vessels to be calling in Japan.CMA CGM Liberty is one of three e-methane ready LNG-powered vessels that the Group has lined-up on the weekly Asia Central South America 1 (ACSA1) service. They form the ACSA1 service fleet of 12 vessels, ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 TEUs and deployed on the regular Transpacific service.

The largest U.S. business group on Friday urged President Joe Biden him to intervene immediately and appoint an independent mediator to address a West Coast ports labor dispute.More than 22,000 dockworkers at ports from California to Washington state have been working without a contract since July. U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark in a letter to Biden cited "continued and potentially expanded service disruptions at these ports heading into peak shipping season."Tensions…

The Pacific Maritime Association on Thursday said the largest longshore union local on the West Coast disrupted work at the nation's busiest seaport complex for the second week in a row, as labor talks covering 22,000 dockworkers from California to Washington state approach the one-year mark.Frustration is growing over the lack of resolution in the talks, which started in May.

U.S. marine terminal and logistics company Enstructure announced Monday that it has acquired Richardson Companies, a terminal and logistics company with primary operations in  Port Houston and the Port of Mobile.Richardson handles a diverse mix of breakbulk cargoes, including steel products, forest products, and project cargo. The company operates approximately one million square feet of industrial warehousing in Houston, Baytown, Freeport, and Mobile.Following the acquisition…

The CMA CGM Group said this week it had received the arrival of the CMA CGM Argentina containership as its largest vessel to call at the Honmoku D4 terminal in Yokohama, Japan.The containership is one of two 15,000-TEU series that the group has deployed on the weekly Asia Central South America 1 (ACSA1) service. Arriving from central and south America, the CMA CGM Argentina is now the largest containership to call a Japanese port on a regular service and has brought import shipments of fresh fruits from Ecuador and Guatemala…

Corvus Energy on Thursday announced it will supply shoreside battery energy storage systems (ESS) for Crowley's eWolf, the first zero-emission, all-electric tugboat being built for operations in the U.S.The system will consist of two Corvus Orca BOBs—the containerized version of the Corvus Orca ESS—used for charging the vessel shoreside from when it enters service in San Diego’s harbor in 2023.Corvus Energy is also supplying the 6.2 MWh Corvus Orca ESS on board eWolf, which is currently under construction at Master Boat Builders…

Mokena, Ill. based Middle River Marine, LLC announced it has struck a deal to acquire the assets of Chicago's Kindra Lake Towing LP.With the acquisition, Middle River will expand its affreightment, towing, fleeting and terminal services to customers on the Illinois Waterways, including Lake Michigan. The agreement will expand MRM’s bulk material logistic operations with the addition of five vessels, marine equipment and a harbor slip in South Chicago.“Our people make the difference and we’re happy to welcome new coworkers to expand the MRM team,” said Aaron Halcomb, president of Middle River Marine. “For our customers, this further extends our ability to economically…

Svitzer Australia, a subsidiary of A.P. Møller – Maersk, announced on Monday that it will lock out all harbor towage employees covered under its 2016 National Towage Enterprise Agreement and their union bargaining representatives starting Friday, November 18, amid ongoing pay disputes.The lockout, which is slated to run indefinitely, will impact shipping operations at Australian ports in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. No shipping…

Hapag-Lloyd AG and SM SAAM have signed a binding agreement under which Hapag-Lloyd will acquire 100 % of the shares of SAAM Ports S.A. and SAAM Logistics S.A. and thereby the entire company’s terminal business and associated logistics services.The contracting parties agreed upon a price of around $1 billion, which also includes real estate assets related to the logistics business.Chile-based SM SAAM is a terminal operator, logistics company, and towage provider active in multiple countries in the Americas.

A fire erupted on Saturday at an oil terminal in Venezuela when a hose used for supplying gasoline to a tanker broke lose, the country's oil minister Tareck El Aissami said.The fire, which occurred early on Saturday at one of Guaraguao terminal's berths, located on Venezuela's eastern coast, was extinguished shortly after, but also affected Panama-flagged oil vessel Larko and interrupted the terminal's operations, according to shipping sources.No injuries have been reported.