Transportation Activities News

In response to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the Congressional Research Service released a report that stated global economic growth has declined by 3% to 6% in 2020 with a partial recovery predicted for 2021. Also, the GDP of the U.S. has fallen by 5% in the first quarter 2020. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the maritime industry, and seafarers themselves, have not been able to escape the significant effects of this crisis.All sectors of the maritime industry have been adversely affected by the global pandemic.

The U.S. Federal Maritime Commission (FMC, the federal agency responsible for regulating the nation’s international ocean transportation, has completed compromise agreements recovering a total of $520,000 in civil penalties, announced FMC Chairman, Mario Cordero. The agreements were reached with four ocean transportation intermediaries (both non-vessel-operating common carriers and freight forwarders) and one vessel-operating common carrier. The agreed penalties resulted from investigations conducted by the Commission’s Area Representatives in Seattle and New York, and by Washington D.C. headquarters staff. The parties settled and agreed to penalties, but did not admit to violations of the Shipping Act or Commission regulations.

Foss Maritime has opened a new office and the formed a project management group aiming to support its customer base headquartered in Houston. John Tirpak of Foss has been appointed Vice President of Business Development & Contract Services and will be relocating to Houston to develop business in the region and lead the business development function of the entire Marine Transportation division from the new office. There he will oversee domestic and international business development, sales and marketing.

China Merchants Energy Shipping Co., Ltd (CMES), the dry and wet bulk arm of state conglomerate China Merchants Holdings (International) Company Limited, has set up a wholly owned subsidiary China VLOC Company Limited to operate 400,000 dwt ore carriers in Hong Kong. The new Hong Kong-based subsidiary will own the four Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOC) or "Valemax" vessels, purchased at a total price of $448m by CMES. The 400,000-deadweight-tonne ships are some of the largest ships ever built and were sold under accords between Vale and China Merchants. CMES had earlier entered into a deal for it to order 10 VLOCs against a 25-year contract of affreightment (COA) with Vale.

Russian shipping company Sovcomflot, a global top-five tanker company, reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2014. The company, which offers crude oil, refined petroleum products and liquefied gas transportation services, recorded a “strong start” with highlights as listed below. •Successful completion by SCF Group’s company, Novoship, of modernization at the Port of Sochi for 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Sergey Frank, President and CEO of OAO Sovcomflot, said, “Following five years of recession, the tanker market is showing the early signs of a long overdue recovery.

The American maritime industry supports immediate action to address the unfolding environmental disaster in the Gulf. Federal law called the Jones Act requires that American vessels be used for domestic transportation activities in the U.S., and countless American vessels are already responding in the Gulf. In addition, we know that many other American vessels are standing by ready to help. There are well-established federal procedures for waiving the Jones Act to bring in foreign vessels in those situations were American vessels are not available. The American maritime industry has not and will not stand in the way of the use of these well-established waiver procedures to address this crisis.

Based in Tampa, Florida, this business handles all of TECO Transport's global blue water transportation activities. It is the largest dry bulk ocean transport company operating under the U.S. flag; and TECO Bulk Terminal (formerly Electro-Coal Transfer). Based in Davant, La., this terminal and storage transfer operation handles bulk commodities at the mouth of the Mississippi River, including coal, petroleum coke, phosphate and iron ore. TECO Transport President Jeff Rankin said that because of its diversity of subsidiaries, TECO Transport is the only U.S. company capable of moving bulk products from source to point-of-use.

According to reports, deepwater oil and gas exploration and production activities by oil majors are likely to pick up steam and go forward with the surging demand and tight supply situation that has pushed crude prices to new highs in recent months. Since the beginning of this year, the Coastal group has booked the sale of one unit of the offshore support vessel. Five other firm orders have also been placed with the Coastal group from customers from the Middle East and Western Europe. Three of these vessels are expected to be delivered this year, it said in its 2005 Annual Report. The favourable conditions of the region's energy and oil transportation markets have led to positive flow-through opportunities for the Coastal group…

Horizon Lines, Inc., announced several key promotions and realignments of senior management responsibilities. John W. Handy is joining Horizon Lines as Executive Vice President. Reporting to him will be John Keenan, Senior Vice President and Chief Transportation Officer, Ken Privratsky, Vice President and General Manager, Alaska, Gabriel Serra, Vice President and General Manager, Puerto Rico, and Mar Labrador in his new position as Vice President and General Manager, Hawaii/Guam. Handy's major responsibilities will be the continued enhancement of trade lane profitability and system service integrity, the leadership of strategic business development and the further development of the Company's management team as the next generation of leadership.

The Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") has issued proposed regulations under section 863 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), providing new rules for determining the source of income from activities conducted in international waters for purposes of U.S. income taxation. These new regulations come shortly after the release last year of regulations under Section 883 of the Code that significantly affected the exemption from U.S. income tax of income from the international operation of a vessel owned by a non-U.S. corporation. While the new regulations also apply to space activities and similar new regulations apply to communication activities, the new rules may have the most significant impact on both U.S.

In summarizing his company's results, Mr. Flemming R. "We have achieved much. We came from a difficult past and we are on the right track to return to full health, but we are not there yet. We would have preferred a little more time to consolidate all we have achieved and are achieving before having to deal with a severe downturn in the economic environment like this one. "2001 is proving a tough year -- and, while this result is disappointing, we have to remember where we started from and accept that sustained profitability is not achieved magically overnight," Jacobs said. The Group recorded serious losses in 1997-98 when the Asian crisis hit just as it had purchased the American liner business, APL.

This is a year to get things done in Washington. After a relatively unproductive congressional session last year and a slow start to the 106th Congress due to the focus on impeachment, the congressional leadership is promising an active year focused on "the people's business." That activism is good news for America's tugboat, towboat and barge industry, as there are two items - the deficit reduction tax and the use of strict criminal liability statutes - that ought to be addressed by this Congress. First, while the budget surplus debate considers options ranging from saving social security to paying down the national debt, we're told that public opinion polls do not generally favor spending the surplus in the form of a tax cut.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the USCG specifying which agency will be responsible for certain aspects of oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, and transportation activities on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The MOU identifies 27 areas of responsibilities for both agencies. For example, MMS will be responsible for most drilling and production matters, pipeline operations, emergency shutdown systems, inspection and testing of production and drilling equipment, decommissioning platforms, and investigating oil pollution related to provisions in the OCS Lands Act.