Hanjin Planning Port of Portland Exit

Hanjin Shipping says that because of escalating costs, it will cease its direct-call service to Port of Portland as part of its Pacific Northwest Hanjin Express Service (PNH) effective January 2014.

With the change, all shipments currently being served via the Port of Portland will be rerouted through the Seattle or Tacoma ports, according to an Oct. 17 letter to customers. All other port calls on the PNH service are expected to remain the same.

“Decision to stop Portland port call service comes with much difficulty knowing the level of appreciation received from our customers with this exclusive service in and out of great State of Oregon,” the letter reads in part. “However, the cost of serving this port has escalated significantly this year to deter us from maintaining quality service which you have come to expect.”

Hanjin is the largest container carrier calling at Portland’s Terminal 6. The service represents about 80 percent of container throughput at the terminal, averaging about 1,600 containers per week. Hanjin has had a presence in the area since 1994, and has contracts with many of the area’s largest shippers.

The departure of Hanjin would leave Hapag-Lloyd, Hamburg Süd and Westwood Shipping as the remaining direct calling carriers at Terminal 6. The port says the change would not affect other business lines such as autos, minerals, grain, steel or liquid bulks.

Hanjin leadership staff is expected to meet with officials from the port and terminal operator ICTSI Oregon in coming weeks. Meanwhile, Hanjin will continue weekly direct calls at Terminal 6 for the duration of the calendar year.

“Hanjin has been a valued customer of the port for almost 20 years and we continue to believe that they have a valuable container shipping franchise in this market,” Port of Portland Chief Commercial Officer Sam Ruda said in a statement.

Long Beach Container Volumes Up Again

Cargo volume climbed 14.7 percent at the Port of Long Beach in September compared to the same month in 2012, fueled by double-digit gains in both imports and exports of containerized goods.

A total of 587,114 TEUs moved through Long Beach last month. Imports increased 16.2 percent to 307,981 TEUs. Exports rose by 17.2 percent to 134,676 TEUs.

Empty TEUs, which were being sent overseas to be refilled with goods, were up 9.4 percent year-over-year, to 144,457 units.

For the first nine months of 2013, cargo container volume was up 13.7 percent, including 16.2 percent more imports, 11.5 percent more exports and 10.8 percent more empties.

For the year’s third quarter – July through September – imports are up 16.1 percent compared to third quarter 2012. For the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles combined, imports were up 5.7 percent for the third quarter.

For the Port of Long Beach alone, September was the second busiest month of 2013 thus far, after August. This is mostly attributed to the shipping peak season -- August through October – as retailers prepare for a rise in buying as the end-of-the-year holidays approach.

More details on Long Beach cargo numbers can be found at www.polb.com/stats.

Truckers Conduct Work Stoppage at Oakland Port

Hundreds of drayage truck drivers who are part of an organization called the Port of Oakland Truckers Association conducted a work stoppage at the port Oct. 21 to protest what they call unsafe working conditions and unfair compensation.

Multiple terminals at the port had their operations shut down or slowed by the protest, which began at 5 am.

The Truckers Association, which is made up of independent owner-operator drivers who are paid by the load and responsible for their own gas, insurance and truck maintenance, is calling for a $50 monthly “green emissions fee” to offset the cost of upgrading trucks to meet new exhaust standards that are planned go into effect Jan. 1.

The group is also asking for an extension of the Jan. 1 compliance date and a congestion fee compensating truckers for hours currently spent waiting unpaid for a load, as well as an increase in pay per cargo load, something that hasn’t taken place in 10 years, according to the group.

“We want to put an end to inhumane treatment,” the Association said in a statement. “We need safer conditions and better compensation.”

According to the Port of Oakland, about 6,800 drivers are registered do business there; the Truckers Association says it has about 350 members so far.

Port of Baltimore Longshore Strike Ends

After a three-day strike that virtually shut down operations at one of the East Coast’s largest ports, longshore workers at the Port of Baltimore went back to work – temporarily, at least – on Oct. 18.

On Oct. 17 members of International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 333 agreed to return to their jobs for 90 days while the union continues contract negotiations with the Steamship Trade Association of Baltimore, which represents local shipping lines.

The strike was approved by union leadership the night of Oct. 15, after Local 333 members overwhelmingly rejected a contract covering local issues such as workplace safety. Starting the next morning, longshore workers began picketing shipping terminals.

At the time the strike was called, five cargo ships were docked at Baltimore, according to the port. At least one ship – the CCNI Antofagasta – left Baltimore without unloading any cargo. It instead sailed to the Port of Charleston in South Carolina.

The ILA is the largest union of maritime workers in North America, representing more than 65,000 longshore workers on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, Great Lakes, major US rivers, Puerto Rico and Eastern Canada.

The four ILA locals in Baltimore represent about 1,200 dockworkers. Although only Local 333 was on strike, the three other ILA locals representing Port of Maryland workers would not cross the picket line, meaning all the port’s longshore workers – roughly 2,000 of the port’s 14,000 employees – refused to work.

Negotiations between the union and management group are ongoing.

Seattle Mayoral Candidate Outlines Industrial Agenda

Seattle mayoral candidate Ed Murray has released a detailed agenda for industrial growth, one in which he calls the city’s maritime sector a significant part of the city’s economic base and outlines four goals for the sector’s long-term health.

The goals outlined include development and implementation of a plan for freight mobility and safety in industrial areas; and encouraging the development new research/manufacturing/retail businesses and high-precision manufacturing businesses in industrial areas.

“If the City was able to promote the development of life sciences and technology in South Lake Union, there is no reason the City cannot do the same with high-precision, high value manufacturing and with hybrid manufacturing/retail small businesses,” the plan reads in part.

Other goals outlined include the creation of opportunities for energy efficiency and environmental cleanup; and vocational training in STEM related fields relevant to Seattle’s industrial economy.

“Environmental clean-up is also a critical issue in our industrial areas. This requires partnerships with the federal government, state agencies, city departments, the Port of Seattle and key industries,” the agenda states. “Murray is committed to the environmental clean-up of our industrial areas.” See the complete plan here:

Seattle TEU Volumes Halt Yearlong Slide

After a year of falling container volumes, the Port of Seattle last month managed to get back on the plus side when it comes to monthly numbers of TEUs moved.

Seattle Harbor container volumes were up by 2,500 units, or 1.8 percent, for September 2013 versus the same month in 2012, the first time this calendar year that a month saw gains compared with the year prior, according to newly released data.

Port of Seattle terminals moved more than 143,100 TEUs last month, a nearly two percent gain from September 2012’s 140,600 TEUs. The largest portion of the total volume came in imports of full containers. Nearly 48,800 TEUs were moved during the month, which was actually down from the about 53,000 TEUs from the same month last year. But the port saw a sizable gain in the number of full containers exported: 43,700 were shipped out through Seattle last month, as opposed to 34,470 in September 2012.

Before September’s increase, Seattle had seen its container volumes decline each month this year, with the cause attributed mostly to its loss of the Grand Alliance group of shippers, which in July 2012 began three new calls each week at Washington United Terminals, having moved their business from the Port of Seattle. Since the shift, Tacoma had seen year-over-year container volume increases while Seattle experienced the opposite.

The Grand Alliance is a consortium of three of the world’s largest shipping lines – Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd, Orient Overseas Container Line of Hong Kong and Japanese company NYK Line – along with associated carrier ZIM Integrated Shipping of Israel.

For the calendar year to date, Seattle TEU volumes are down 17 percent compared to the same nine months in 2012.

POLA Monthly Container Volumes Down 4.5 Percent

The Port of Los Angeles has released its September 2013 cargo volumes and the good news is that the overall volume of containers – 710,892 TEUs – exceeded 700,000 TEUs for the third straight month.

The bad news, however, is that volumes dropped 4.57 percent compared to September 2012.

According to newly released POLA data, imports declined by 3.75 percent at the port last month compared to the same month in 2012, going from 385,250 TEUs in September 2012 to 370,785 TEUs this September.

Also, exports dropped 12.79 percent last month, going from 172,432 TEUs in September 2012 to 150,380 TEUs in September 2013.

Combined, total loaded imports and exports for the month were down 6.55 percent, from 557,683 TEUs last September to 521,165 TEUs in September 2013. The one bright spot last month was in the volume of empty containers moved: the number was 189,726 TEUs, a 1.3 percent increase over September 2012’s 187,240 TEUs.

Factoring in empties, which increased 1.33 percent year over year, overall September 2013 volumes of 710,892 TEUs was a 4.57 percent decline compared to September 2012’s 744,923 TEUs.

For the calendar year to date, LA terminals have moved 341,000 TEUs fewer than during the same nine months last year, according to port data, a drop of 5.5 percent. For the fiscal year, which began July 1, the total volume is down almost 41,800 TEUs, or just under two percent. Despite the declines however, the Port of LA remains the busiest seaport in the United States.

Current and past data container counts for the Port of Los Angeles may be found at:

http://www.portoflosangeles.org/maritime/stats.asp.