Transportation Costs News

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor joined Port Tampa Bay leadership to announce $10 million in federal funding to support the Tampa Harbor Navigation Improvement Project, an investment that will enhance navigation safety, expand cargo capacity and strengthen supply chains across Florida.The funding included $3 million secured by Rep. Castor through Fiscal Year 2026 community project funding requests to advance Phase 1 planning, engineering and design. In addition, Rep. Castor led the Florida Congressional Delegation in securing $7 million in general-use funding through the U.S.

A Thai oil tanker has safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz following diplomatic coordination between Thailand and Iran, and was not required to pay to escape the blockade, a Thai official and the oil major that owns the vessel said on Wednesday.The Bangchak Corporation BCP.BK-owned tanker crossed the strategic waterway on Monday after successful talks between Thai foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Iran's ambassador to Thailand."I requested that if Thai ships need to pass through the strait…

For Aimee Andres, the nation’s inland rivers are not an abstract transportation network or a policy talking point. They are personal. Growing up, she spent her formative years around ports, terminals and railroads, watching firsthand how freight moved and how quietly essential inland infrastructure is to the country’s economic engine. That upbringing ultimately led her to a role she has now held for more than a decade: Executive Director of Inland Rivers, Ports & Terminals (IRPT).

Trading houses and buyers of Venezuelan oil have chartered the first very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to export from the South American country since a Caracas-Washington supply deal began, which is set to speed up shipments starting in March while boosting deliveries to India, according to four sources and data.Trading firms Vitol and Trafigura have been exporting Venezuelan crude and fuel since January as part of a $2 billion deal between the U.S. and Venezuela after the capture of President Nicolas Maduro by U.S.

Discounts on Russian oil at export terminals have once again approached historic highs, putting pressure on exporters' trade profits amid weak global oil prices, Reuters calculations show.Western sanctions over Russia's military action in Ukraine have forced its oil companies to sell crude at steep discounts, reaching $20 to $30 per barrel below Brent in December - the widest gap at Russian ports since early 2022, Reuters data indicates.The deeper discounts have eroded margins, pushing some suppliers into losses.

For Major General Jason Kelly, Rebuilding and Maintaining the Nation’s Critical Waterway Infrastructure is personal.When Major General Jason Kelly reflects on his path to leading the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Civil Works mission, he doesn’t describe a straight line. He describes a journey, one that began “on the business end of the Army,” as he puts it, and evolved into a passion for solving complex problems that impact every American who depends on safe, reliable…

President Donald Trump's plan to revive U.S. shipbuilding using massive fees on China-linked ship visits to American ports is causing U.S. coal inventories to swell and stoking uncertainty in the embattled agriculture market, as exporters struggle to find ships to send goods abroad.Trump is drafting an executive order that would rely on funding from a U.S. Trade Representative proposal to levy fines of up to $1.5 million on China-made ships or vessels from fleets that include ships made in China.Those potential port fees have limited the availability of ships needed to move agriculture…

Germany-based corrosion specialist Steelpaint is calling for urgent action to address the significant environmental impact of steel corrosion, warning that inadequate corrosion protection is contributing more to global CO2 emissions than the entire aviation industry. With the maritime industries consuming an estimated 100 million tonnes of steel annually, premature corrosion and subsequent steel renewal work is increasing carbon emissions dramatically, said Steelpaint’s Managing Director Klaus Müller.Steel production remains one of the most carbon-intensive industrial processes.

The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) strike is creating a ripple effect around global trade networks, leading to major supply chain disruptions that affect both consumers and the broader economy. As the strike drags on for several weeks, its impacts become increasingly severe on industries, logistics, and international trade - with cascading effects lasting even after any potential settlement agreement has been made. Below we explore weekly impacts of ILA strike…

Dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation announced it has received several dredging awards totaling $342.3 million.The awarded work includes:Sabine-Neches Waterway Channel Improvement, Contract 6 Project (Capital, Texas, $219.1 million)The Sabine-Neches Waterway Channel Improvement, Contract Project 6 involves the deepening of the channel to accommodate larger vessels, reduce transportation costs, enhance channel efficiency and improve safety for local port stakeholders. This project has approximately $16 million of options pending. The client on this project is the U.S.

Low water conditions have led to several barges running aground along a key stretch of the lower Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard told Reuters on Wednesday, just as the busiest U.S. grain export season gets underway.Low water levels are slowing export-bound barge shipments of grain and oilseeds from the Midwest farm belt for a third straight year, making U.S. exports less competitive in a world market awash in supplies - just as farmers are set to harvest a record soy and large corn crop and as prices hover near four-year lows.The U.S.

Two crude oil tanker ships reported coming under attack in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday, although neither reported damage, maritime security agencies said.The attempted assaults on those vessels, identified as the Liberia-flagged Delta Atlantica and the Panama-flagged On Phoenix, bear the hallmarks of Iran-aligned Houthi militant attacks on international cargo shipping in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has revealed the winners of the 2024 Michigan Maritime and Port Facility Assistance Grant Program, which will allocate $5 million to maritime projects throughout the state.The five chosen projects aim to enhance Michigan's maritime infrastructure, bolstering the state's economic edge, lowering freight transportation costs, increasing reliability and lessening the environmental effects of freight movement, MDOT said.MDOT's Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget included a one-time appropriation of $5 million for the program…

Cambodia will begin construction of its Chinese-backed $1.7 billion Techo Funan canal this August, Prime Minister Hun Manet said, describing the development as a "historic project".The 180-km (112-mile) canal that will connect the Mekong River basin to the Cambodian coast has caused tension between Cambodia and neighboring Vietnam, and sparked fears that it could be used by Chinese warships. Cambodia has dismissed those claims as baseless.Acknowledging concerns about the project…

Ocean Network Express (ONE) has launched the world’s first dual-temperature refrigerated container equipped with controlled atmosphere functionality in collaboration with Pan Pacific International Holdings (PPIH) and NAX Japan.It is the world's first use of marine transportation of the dual-temperature refrigerated container equipped with controlled atmosphere functions that will transport various types of perishable goods and fruits from Japan to overseas stores of Don Quijote…

Sometimes, a change in a vessel's operational profile requires considerable modernization or retrofitting of its propulsion system in order for the vessel to remain fit for purpose. And in some cases, newly required thruster performance features can be achieved with the help of modifications that preserve most of the existing units.Earlier this year, the Croatian ferry Krk operated by the national Jadrolinija shipping company, was retrofitted to cater for a new route with stronger winds and currents.

Istanbul-based tanker operator Palmali has become the top shipper for Ukraine's Black Sea-borne sunflower oil exports, one of the country's key export products, and plans to expand further, its chairman Mubariz Mansimov said.Azeri-born Mansimov said Palmali was the most active operator in the increasingly dangerous Black Sea, and plans to expand its presence in Ukraine by placing an order for 10 more cargo carriers and starting trading operations early next year. Since pulling out of the U.N.-brokered deal that guaranteed safe shipment of Ukrainian food products in July…

War risk insurance premiums edged up for Red Sea voyages after three vessels were attacked in the area on Sunday and fears grow over worsening perils for commercial shipping, maritime and insurance sources said on Monday.The incidents are the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since a brutal war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas broke out on Oct. 7.The three commercial vessels came under attack in international waters in the southern Red Sea, the U.S.

Russian crude oil producers are enjoying the cheapest costs to ship to refiners in China and India in almost a year thanks to a growing number of vessels plying the routes, according to trading and shipping sources.The arrival of new shippers working outside the purview of Western governments allows Russian firms to earn more than the $60 per barrel cap that the U.S. and its allies had aimed to impose on Russia through sanctions. It also means that enforcing the price cap will have a limited impact on Russian revenues.On Thursday, the U.S. imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil above the cap, one based in Turkey and one in the United Arab Emirates…

Pakistan is unlikely to meet a target for Russian crude to make up two-thirds of its oil imports, despite attractive prices, hampered by a shortage of foreign currency and limitations at its refineries and ports, officials and analysts say.The cash-strapped South Asian nation became Russia's latest customer snapping up discounted crude that has been banned from European markets due to Russia's war on Ukraine. Its first cargo arrived in June and a second is now under negotiation.It is targeting 100…

A containership carrying general commercial goods docked at Yemen's main port of Hodeidah for the first time since at least 2016 on Saturday as parties in Yemen's eight-year war are in talks to reinstate an expired U.N.-brokered truce deal.The conflict, which pits a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia against the Iran-aligned Houthi group, has divided Yemen and caused a humanitarian crisis that has left 80% of the 30 million population needing help.Goods arriving at Hodeidah have to be vetted by a U.N. body established to prevent arms shipments from entering Yemen.

Shell has cut crude oil imports at its Singapore refinery this month and is relying on smaller tankers after extending repairs at its single buoy mooring (SBM) facility to June, according to government notices and shipping data.The company is moving crude from Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) onto smaller Aframax tankers through ship-to-ship transfers before discharging them at another jetty on Pulau Bukom, the island south of Singapore where the refinery is located, shipping…

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced $384.4 million in federal funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for expanding and improving the nation’s ferry service in communities across the country, as well as accelerate the transition to zero emission transportation.In total, FTA is awarding 23 grants across 11 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Grants will fund projects including replacement of old vessels, expand fleets, and build new terminals and docks.