Westwood Shipping Departs Portland Terminal

By Mark Edward Nero

Westwood Shipping Lines, which had been the sole carrier calling at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 6 over the past 10 months, announced in a letter to its customers this week that the company will no longer call on the terminal after May 21.

In its letter, Westwood Shipping, which had been calling on the terminal once a month, said the arrangement was no longer economically viable. Each call to Portland took about 150 containers of hay, grass seed, dried fruits, other mixed agricultural goods and paperboard for export to Japan.

Puyallup, Washington-based Westwood had called Terminal 6 with container service since July 2010. The port already had lost 95 percent of its container service in March 2015 after shippers Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd pulled out due to a lingering labor dispute that had played a part of decreased productivity.

The carriers had complained it was taking too long to load and unload ships because of a three-year dispute between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and Terminal 6 operator ICTSI Oregon.

Westwood suspended service in April of last year, but returned with monthly export calls last July.

“While we are disappointed with this news, we also understand the underlying economics of the carrier industry are at play like over-capacity and exceptionally low rates. We are hopeful that Westwood will return to T-6 when market dynamics improve,” the port said in a May 18 statement, adding that it intended to focus on recruitment of new carrier service and assist shippers with access to markets.

Bulk, breakbulk and auto operations at terminals 2, 4, 5 and 6 are not impacted by Westwood Shipping’s departure, according to the port.

Shipping Line Moving from Seattle to Tacoma

By Mark Edward Nero

Puyallup, Washington-based Westwood Shipping Lines is shifting its maritime operations from Terminal 5 at the Port of Seattle to the Husky Terminal at the Port of Tacoma near the end of the month, the company said July 7.

The move is necessitated by the discontinuation of cargo operations at Terminal 5 so that the terminal can be renovated. Westwood says its last ship call at Seattle is expected to be the Westwood Olympia 61E, arriving at Terminal 5 on July 23.

Utilizing Husky Terminal will allow Westwood to maintain its service levels for container and project cargo customers without any interruption to its vessel or rail schedules, the company said in a statement on its website announcing the shift.

The first import ship call at Husky Terminal is slated to be the Westwood Discovery 29E, which arrives July 30; the first export ship is planned to be the Westwood Discovery 30W, which is scheduled to sail Aug. 6.

Westwood operates about half a dozen sailings monthly between the Pacific Northwest and Asia.

The Port of Seattle in May announced a plan to modernize Terminal 5 in order to accommodate larger ships. As part of the plan, Eagle Marine Services, which operates the terminal, is relocating its cargo and break bulk activities to Seattle’s Terminal 18.

“We are pleased Westwood Shipping, when faced with the need to find a new terminal, has opted to remain in the Puget Sound gateway,” Tacoma Commission President Clare Petrich, who indicated that the Seattle to Tacoma shift was the result of a discussion agreement between the two ports that was formed in January and allows them to “gather and share information” with one another.

“The ongoing conversations between commissioners at the ports of Tacoma and Seattle, under a Federal Maritime Administration Discussion Agreement, are focused on this exact situation – ensuring valued shipping lines remain in Puget Sound and that we work together to attract new services,” Petrich said.

New Japan Service for Portland Port

The Oregon-state Port of Portland announced Tuesday that Westwood Shipping Lines is preparing to kick off a new transpacific service between Portland and four ports in Japan.

The service, which will start July 11 and operate under the terms of an initial six-month agreement, will provide monthly service for more than 200 containers and the first Japan service for Portland customers since Tokyo-based "K" Line picked up anchor in early 2009.

The new Westwood service will carry non-reefer containerized agricultural products, as well as paper goods, between Portland and Shimizu, Tokyo, Yokohama and Nagoya in Japan.

If successful, Westwood hopes to add an additional ship to the rotation and expand the service to a bi-weekly schedule.

Westwood is owned by Weyerhauser Co.