Hapag-Lloyd Quits Portland
Hapag-Lloyd has notified its Pacific Northwest customers that it has ended its service to Portland because of “schedule integrity” problems.
The last vessel to call at Portland as part of Hapag-Lloyd’s MPS was the 4,250-teu Seaspan Dalian (built 2002) which sailed on 28 March.
With the Hapag-Lloyd exiting its operations on its Mediterranean Pacific Service (MPS), Portland has lost its second container shipping company. Earlier this year, South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping announced it would stop servicing Oregon's only deep water port terminal, too.
The two carriers made up almost all of the terminal’s business. The only remaining line now calling at Portland is Westwood, with only one call per month.
Westwood Shipping Lines is reportedly the sole remaining shipper moving product through the container port, having signed a contract until December 2015.
ICTSI Oregon, container terminal operator, said that its highest priority would be to attract and retain new business.
However, the operator also issued scathing remarks against the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), having attributed the terminal's tarnished reputation to three years’ worth of work stoppages and delays.