Shared news and articles from and about the shipping and freight industry..
Transportation and goods movement officials and other stakeholders gathered on Tuesday at Port of Long Beach headquarters to broaden efforts aimed at speeding up the movement of goods amid a … Read more here..
Close on the heels of its announcement to expand hours for truck pick up and drop off, the Port of Long Beach has started its pilot program for 24 hour cargo pick up at its Pier T Terminal.
Total Terminals International container terminal on Pier T in the Port of Long Beach became the first terminal to start making it easier for trucks to access the facility for cargo pick up during the overnight hours in a new pilot program to widen access and speed deliveries amid the ongoing cargo surge.
project44, the global leader in real-time supply chain visibility, today announced that it has acquired Austin-based Convey, the last-mile technology leader that powers exceptional direct-to-consumer delivery experiences for more than 200 of the world’s largest brands, including The Home Depot, Nieman Marcus, Ferguson, Ingram-Micro, and others.
After consultation with multiple supply chain stakeholders and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles announced bold new measures to improve freight movement and reduce delays through the ports as they continue to experience record volumes. These measures will enhance the ports’ landside operations to help meet the unprecedented growth in cargo volume moving through the San Pedro Bay.
The FMC set up Fact Finding 29 in March 2020 in response to many complaints raised with the FMC to investigate challenges to the freight delivery system in the USA and possible violations of the Shipping Act.
Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye was tasked by the FMC to carry out the investigation with the full authority under 46 C.F.R. §§ 502.281 to 502.291, to perform such duties as may be necessary in accordance with U.S. law and Commission regulations.
In her Executive Summary to the Subcommittee on Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation in June, Commissioner Dye reported that four key key measures to improve efficient cargo movement in US Ports have been identified.
Today, the Federal Maritime Commission voted to move forward with two demurrage-and-detention related initiatives proposed by Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye as part of Fact Finding 29. Unlike Commissioner Dye’s other Interim Recommendations, these initiatives required formal Commission approval.
Rebeca Grynspan of Costa Rica will be the new head of UNCTAD, the United Nations trade and development body. Her nomination to the post by UN Secretary-General António Guterres was approved on 11 June by the UN General Assembly.
Ms. Grynspan, a Costa Rican economist and former vice president of the Central American nation becomes the first woman and Central American to be appointed secretary-general of the UN’s trade and development body. Ms.Grynspan is the current Ibero-American secretary-general.
China has been the epicenter of global trade for many decades and was successful in controlling the COVID-19 outbreak reasonably well.
However, things seem to be getting worse in China with several port and business closures in Yantian, followed by Ningbo due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
Reports are circulating that the city of Xiamen is facing an outbreak of COVID-19 forcing residents of Xiamen in China’s Fujian province to go into lockdown as of 13th Sep night after after 32 infections of the highly transmissible Delta variant was detected with most of them being traced back to Putian where the latest outbreak originated.
Global trade rebounded in Q1 2021, increasing by about 10% YoY and 4% QoQ. It is expected to further rebound in Q2 and projected to grow by 16%. However the outlook remains uncertain as per UNCTAD.
While global trade grows and shipments crisscross across the globe, the documentation for these shipments are still in paper mode even in this digital age.
Dealing with physical printing of paper is a practice that the shipping industry continues to depend on and these paper documents includes insurance policies, invoices and some very important documents like bills of lading.
The peak shipping season started with a roar and lifted the Port of Long Beach to its strongest August on record.
Dockworkers and terminal operators moved 807,704 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container cargo last month, an 11.3% increase compared to August 2020. Imports were up 11.7% to 407,426 TEUs and exports decreased 5.3% to 119,485 TEUs. Empty containers moved through the Port rose 19.7% to 280,794 TEUs.
The shipping industry and particularly exporters and importers have been subject to heavy freight rate increases since the 3rd quarter of 2020 increasing from around $2,032/40′ in September 2020 to $10,519/40′ in September 2021.
Many customers have been complaining about the attitudes of shipping lines who they claimed were breaching contracts and demanding higher spot freight rates.
Perhaps taking cognisance of this, CMA CGM, the world’s fourth largest container shipping line has taken a decision to stop all spot rate increases.
Port of Long Beach to offer traffic alerts with a new texting service. The ‘Truck Alert’ program is aimed at reducing delays, improve cargo movement. The port has been in the news recently due to high levels of port congestion. Apart from the increased demand in goods, the delays are also attributed to the constrained landside operations due to shortage of chassis and also ineffective utilisation of truck booking windows.
Two years after launching BOXBAY, a new high bay container storage system, DP World has completed the testing of the high bay storage concept at its first full-size facility in Jebel Ali port in Dubai.
As per a media release from DP World, more than 63,000 container moves have been completed since the facility, which can hold 792 containers at a time, was commissioned beginning this year.
The test is said to have exceeded expectations with BOXBAY working faster and more energy efficient than anticipated.
Berthing delay skyrockets as Ningbo, the 3rd largest ports in the world suspends container terminal operations due to a positive case of COVID-19.
Data provided by project44 confirms that a large volume of container ships are at anchor outside Ningbo-Zhoushan waiting for berth space.
Crimson Polaris, a dedicated wood-chip carrier operated by NYK, owned by MI-DAS Line S.A and managed Misuga Kaiun Co. Ltd was swept away by strong winds while it was anchored and ran aground off Hachinohe in Aomori prefecture in Japan on August 11 2021.
The hull of the vessel eventually split in two in the early hours of 12th August and oil from the vessel has spilt into the ocean. The oil leak from the ship has reportedly spread around 15 miles but the extent of any environmental impact and quantity is still under investigation and unclear as yet.
The wreckage of the X-Press Pearl may be resting in part at the bottom of the sea peacefully, but the issues surrounding the burning and eventual sinking of the ship has still not come to an end.