West Basin Container Terminal News

Ports America, the largest stevedore and terminal operating company in the United States, is refocusing its business strategies on the West Coast through additional investments and expansion of services into new terminals. Areas of concentration include Los Angeles, Long Beach, the Pacific Northwest and western Canada. These regions have been identified as most suited to its realignment goals. Ports America’s long-standing joint venture partnership at West Basin Container Terminal (WBCT) and its recently acquired 30 percent ownership of International Transportation Services (ITS) are key locations for Ports America’s strategy. Accordingly…

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced that Cargomatic, a Los Angeles-based, privately-owned technology company that matches trucking capacity with shipments, is testing its mobile app to speed up the flow of containerized cargo at the Port of Los Angeles (POLA). Cargomatic has developed a peel-off shipping concept that it calls the “Cargomatic Free Flow” program, a web-based solution that optimizes container moves for cargo owners, terminals, and trucking companies. Testing began in early January and preliminary results are encouraging, POLA said.

Los Angeles area ports are using a Uber-style app called Cargomatic to help clear congestion from recent slowdowns, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. After labor strife created what may be delays of up to two months, container terminals on the Pacific coast have no choice but to find new ways to speed the unloading of cargo. At the Port of Los Angeles, the use of the new Cargomatic app is allowing drivers to pick up whatever cargo is coming off a vessel the moment the truck arrives and deliver it to waiting customers.

The Port of Los Angeles is initiating the environmental review process on a proposed berth-improvement project by Yang Ming, a Taiwanese marine transport company at the Port. The start of the environmental process, which is expected to formally begin this fall with a Notice of Preparation, is the first step in Yang Ming's plan to enhance its terminal facilities and deepen its berth to accommodate 14,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent (TEU) vessels and increase cargo volume. In May, executives from Yang Ming and the Port of Los Angeles signed a term sheet agreement at Chi-Du…

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the signing of an agreement with Yang Ming, a marine transport company, to extend its lease at the Port of Los Angeles for an additional nine years. Yang Ming’s current lease at the West Basin Container Terminal ends in 2021; with this agreement, it extends to 2030 and represents additional port revenues of between $365 and $525 million, depending on cargo volumes. In conjunction with the lease extension, Mayor Villaraigosa signed a Memorandum of Understanding Tuesday in Beijing to expand and modernize the Yang Ming terminal facilities at the port.