Major U.S. Ports to Spend $8.5 Billion On Development

As global containerized cargo traffic begins to slowly return after the global economic meltdown of 2008 and 2009, the nation's major ports are planning or under way with major infrastructure development to beat back competition, according to a new report by Chicago-based commercial real estate management firm Jones Lang LaSalle.

“According to the American Association of Port Authorities, in the last 50 years U.S. seaports have invested more than $34 billion in capital projects to enhance their facilities,” said John Carver, head of the Ports, Airports, and Global Infrastructure group at Jones Lang LaSalle. “By our estimates, the top 13 ports alone will pour nearly a quarter of that amount, roughly $8.5 billion into container terminal and harbor dredging projects in just the next five years. This ratio clearly demonstrates the major efforts being made to ensure that U.S. ports remain competitive and efficient in the fight for global market share.”

The Virginia Port Authority, the Port of Long Beach, and the Georgia Ports Authority topped the list of the nation's major port areas planning development. The VPA has plans to spend just under $2.5 billion, Long Beach has plans for $2.4 billion in development and the GPA plans to spend $1.2 billion at the Port of Savannah.

The report also found that the main driving force behind the increases in domestic spending on ports infrastructure remains the planned 2014 opening of the Panama Canal.

East Coast and Gulf ports are investing in anticipation of diversions from West Coast ports, said the report, while West Coast ports are looking at infrastructure investments as a means of retaining and attracting new customers following the opening of the expanded Panama Canal. The report concludes, however, that LA/LB will not suffer major diversions due to the opening of the Canal.

In addition, the report also introduced the new Jones Lang LaSalle Port Index, which ranked the nation's top 13 seaport hubs on their desirability for industrial development and investment. The ports were ranked on the basis of seven criteria: TEU volumes; TEU growth trends; labor costs; local industrial property vacancy rates; on-dock and near-dock rail availability; ratios of land value-to-lease rates, and, planned infrastructure investment. Several of the ports, such as Los Angeles and Long Beach, were combined into single entities for the rankings.

"Not surprisingly, Los Angeles/Long Beach tops the Index," said the report, "followed by New York/New Jersey and Savannah which have all performed above the national average and have committed to substantial infrastructure investment in recent years."

The LA/LB port area topped the index with a score of 91.4. New York-New Jersey came in second at 89.5, followed by Savannah, 86.3; Virginia, 85.8; Houston, 84.8; Seattle-Tacoma, 82.0; Jacksonville and Miami, tied at 79.8; Oakland, 78.0; Baltimore, 73.8; and Charleston, 73.0.

Gregoire Kicks Off Washington State Export Initiative

Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire visited the Port of Seattle Tuesday to introduced her plans for a new state export initiative aimed at complimenting the Obama Administration's National Export Initiative intended to double domestic exports within five years.

“As one of the nation’s leading exporting states, Washington State has the ability to act as a testing ground as the United States Department of Commerce develops new programs to move the National Export Initiative forward,” Gregoire said. “Washington is the gateway to Asia, and those trading partners have not been hit as hard as other areas around the world. We need to continue to increase our efforts to reach out to those trading partners. When our companies have more opportunities to do business, they can expand and create more good jobs for our communities.”

The governor's five-year six-point plan includes:

• Working as partners with the U.S. Department of Commerce to identify new opportunities for Washington businesses, serving as a pilot state for “field testing” new programs and tools the federal government develops as a part of the National Export Initiative;
• Directing the Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) to dedicate $3 million in funding toward export counseling assistance to companies seeking to export for the first time;
• Implementing a “Farm-to-Market Initiative” to reward ambitious and achievable proposals to enhance the competitiveness of the state's agricultural enterprises in the global marketplace.
• Enhancing the state's standing as a destination for foreign students who invest in the Washington economy through tuition, lodging and entertainment and encourage Washington students to study abroad; and
• Strengthening and expanding relationships with overseas trading partners;
• Engaging with the federal government to ensure a fully-funded federal transportation re-authorization act that includes a national freight program aimed at infrastructure investments that enhance the state's ability to efficiently move goods.

Gov. Gregoire said she expects the state export initiative to increase the number of Washington state companies exporting by 30 percent over the next five years and help 5,000 Washington businesses achieve $600 million in new export sales.

“Increasing the export of American products and services to global markets can help revive the fortunes of U.S. companies, spur future economic growth and support jobs in the U.S.,” said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. "I applaud Governor Gregoire and Washington State for partnering with us on the National Export Initiative, and look forward to working with the state."

With 8,000 Washington companies currently exporting, the state is the largest U.S. exporter on a per capita basis. Approximately four percent of Washington companies export, compared to a national average of one percent. One in three jobs in Washington state are tied to trade, either directly or indirectly.

“Taking the lead among all states with this early commitment to the National Export Initiative is good for Washington because it builds on our core strengths,” said Washington State Commerce Director Rogers Weed. “Expanding opportunities for our state’s current exporters will generate growth in the near term, while future sales and jobs will come from a new focus by the Small Business Development Centers and other key partners to find and help some of the 96 percent of other Washington companies reach international markets with their products and services.”

ASG Names Chiarello As President

The Federal Way, Wash.-based ship managment firm American Shipping Group has appointed Anthony Chiarello as president, effective Aug. 1.

A 30-year veteran of the maritime logistics industry, Chiarello currently serves as COO and Executive Vice-President of NYK Logistics (Americas), Inc.

Prior to joining NYK, Chiarello served as Senior Vice President, Global Customer Development for AMB Property Corporation. Previously, Chiarello served as chairman and president of Hudd Distribution Services, Inc., a Maersk Logistics company. In addition, he also held other positions during his tenure with Maersk, including president of Maersk Logistics USA Inc.; chairman of Maersk Customs Services; president of Maersk Equipment Service Company, Inc., and vice president for Universal Maritime Service Corporation, a stevedoring and terminal subsidiary of Maersk Sealand.

Chiarello was also a member of the board of directors for Bridge Terminal Transportation and held the position of Deputy Executive Director of the Maryland Port Administration. He has also had leadership participation with the Retail Industry Leaders Association; served on the the Board of Advisors for the United States Merchant Marine Academy; served as a past facilitator for the annual Terminal Management Training Program; and, served as an active member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. Chiarello currently serves on the Board of Visitors for the Northeastern University School of Business.

A resident of Princeton, N.J., Chiarello also worked with his grandfather, father, uncles and cousins in the family’s Brooklyn-based stevedoring and terminal operations business, originally named Chiarello Brothers and founded in 1898.

ASG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saltchuk Resources, Inc., oversees three independently managed companies: Jones Act-carriers Sea Star Line and Totem Ocean Trailer Express, and ship management firm Interocean American Shipping.

ASG was incorporated in 2002 and has terminal facilities in Jacksonville, Fla.; Houston, Texas; Tacoma, Wash.; and Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Kenai in Alaska. The firm also has offices in Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Texas; Los Angeles, Calif.; and Portland, Oregon.

Shipping Sectors To Split Costs For Neah Bay Rescue Tug

When private industry takes up the cost of maintaining and emergency-rescue tug at Neah Bay in northwest Washington state on July 1, owners of oil tankers will pay 57 percent of the cost and owners of non-tanker vessels will pay the remaining 43 percent.

The cost-sharing is part of an agreement negotiated by representatives of the various sectors of the shipping industry. The shipping industry officials have also inked a one-year deal with Foss Maritime to provide the Neah Bay rescue tug service.

The state has provided all funding for the tug service, to the tune of roughly $3.6 million a year for the past two years, but Washington State Governor Christine Gregiore decided in March 2009 to shift the entire cost of the Neah Bay tug to the maritime industry as of July 1, 2010.

The 40-year-old 115-foot Jeffery Foss is expected to take station at Neah Bay on July 1. The Jeffery Foss takes over from the Crowley Maritime tug Hunter, which had been performing the Neah Bay rescue service under contract with the state.

Dockers Honor Anti-Israel Picket at Oakland Port

Longshoremen at the Port of Oakland returned to work a Zim Lines containership Monday morning, a day after the dockers chose to honor a labor and community picket of the terminal. The picket, which was estimated by local law enforcement to comprise close to 500 people at one point Sunday, was called by organizers to protest last month's Israeli raid of a ship bringing supplies to Gaza that left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead.

The Mercury News reports several hundred people had gathered at the Oakland port about 5:30 a.m. at berths 57, 58 and 59, which is operated by SSA Terminals. An Israeli Zim Lines ship was expected to arrive in the morning, but didn’t, so the crowd stayed until the afternoon, preventing workers from unloading a ship from China, according to SSA officials.

Dockers showing up for the day shift on Sunday at the Oakland International Container Terminal refused to cross the picket line and the terminal did not order an evening shift.

Officials from the ANSWER Coalition, one of the groups that organized the protest, said that the goal of the protest was to prevent the unloading of the Zim vessel for 24 hours.

Protesters blocking the terminal entrance waved anti-Israeli signs as well as Palestinian and Turkish flags. The protest organizers also called for a boycott of Israeli goods and an end to American aid to Israel. No arrests were made, according to Oakland law enforcement officials.

On Monday morning, International Longshore and Warehouse Union officials confirmed that ordered day-shift dockers showed up to the terminal at 8 a.m. and began working the Zim vessel.

Army Corps to Move Forward on SoCal Ports Breakwater Study

The United States Army Corps of Engineers on Monday announced it will move forward with a four-year $8 million feasibility study researching possible reconfigurations of portions of the federal breakwater that protects anchorages for the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The Army Corps study follows on the heels of a city-sponsored study that listed numerous possible reconfigurations of the 2.5-mile-long eastern-most section of the breakwater ranging in cost from $10 million to more than $300 million.

The main focus of the study to be conducted by the Army Corps will be to determine if the breakwater could be removed or reconfigured to improve water quality and recreational opportunities on the city beaches without negatively impacting port operations. Built in three sections between 1899 and 1949 by the Army Corps, the more than eight-mile-long federal breakwater is the longest man-made breakwater in the world. Built from west to east, the western-most section protects the Port of Los Angeles and the middle section protects the Port of Long Beach.

The eastern-most section, started in 1941 and completed in 1949, faces the city beaches--once renowned for their surf--and was built to provide U.S. Navy vessels with protected anchorages when the city was a key port for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The area behind the eastern-most section of the breakwater, known as Long Beach Harbor, is now used by the Southern California ports as protected anchorages.

The same section of the breakwater severely diminished wave action and cleansing water currents within Long Beach Harbor, leaving city beaches dirty and unpopular compared to beaches further down the coast and just outside the protective shadow of the breakwater.

Since the Navy departed Long Beach in 1995, opponents of the breakwater have called it unnecessary. Proponents of keeping the breakwater as-is have criticized the cost or altering the breakwater and possible impact on port operations.

The city will be required to provide half of the estimated $8 million cost of the Army Corps study, though some of Long Beach's contribution will be "services-in-kind," reducing the city's cash contribution to just over $3.3 million, according to city officials.

The city's recent study on the breakwater found that bringing back surfable wave action and improved water quality to the city beaches could reap the city more than $52 million a year in increased tourism dollars.

Sramek Named to 2nd Term as Long Beach Port Board President

Following a first term that witnessed major environmental successes and a growing recovery in cargo traffic, Port of Long Beach Harbor Commissioner Nick Sramek has been re-elected by his fellow board members to a second one-year term as president of the commission.

Sramek, a lifetime Long Beach resident and long-time community activist, was first appointed to the Harbor Commission by Mayor Bob Foster in 2007. An aerospace engineer by profession, Sramek served on the City of Long Beach Planning Commission for seven years prior to his Harbor Commission appointment.

The five-member Harbor Commission sets policy for the port, which with the neighboring Port of Los Angeles comprises the busiest container port complex in the Western Hemisphere. Port commissioners, who can serve up to two six-year terms, are nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. Each June, the commissioners self-elect each other to one-year terms in various officer roles on the board.

Sramek is only the second Long Beach commissioner to be named to successive terms as commission president.

During his past year as president of the Harbor Commission, Sramek has led the board in adopting major environmental, business and administrative policy programs that have tried to balance the port's declared stewardship of the local environment while retaining and attracting additional business to the port.

He described his method of leadership shortly after being appointed to the port board in 2007.

"My engineering background says I want to learn, take in data and really inform myself before I come to any conclusions," Sramek told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. "From there, I vote on what my heart and instinct tell me."

Even before taking the reigns as commission president for the first time last year, Sramek was a key voice in one of the port's major environmental programs--the Clean Truck Program.

The program, implemented in October 2008, was originally developed in conjunction with the Port of Los Angeles in 2006 and 2007 to reduce diesel emission from ports-servicing trucks. However, after Los Angeles port official became adamant on including social engineering aspects in the plan, such as mandating that all truck drivers servicing the ports be employees and give up their independent owner-operator status (one enjoyed by more than 80-percent of the ports-servicing drivers), the Long Beach port board parted ways with their Los Angeles counterparts in early 2008.

In addition to Sramek's re-appointment as commission president, commissioner Susan Anderson Wise, who joined the board in 2008, was selected as Vice President. Dr. Mike Walter, who has served on the commission since 2005, was named Secretary; while Mario Cordero, appointed to the commission in 2003 and re-appointed in 2009, was named Vice Secretary.

All new commission terms officially start July 1.