Galveston to be Containerized?

This article caught our attention,  as our warehouse is only about 45 minutes from the Port of Galveston, and this could be of interest to many of our customers.
Breakbulk Staff   Tue, 02/22/2011 - 15:35
Breakbulk Online - News Story

Breakbulk port may accept new investors, add boxes to mix

The Port of Galveston, Texas, could be adding containers to its mix of breakbulk, project, bulk and cruise business if a proposed partnership between Hutchison Port Holdings and The Carlyle Group comes to fruition.

The possibility was announced earlier this month when the port’s governing Wharves Board asked port staff to negotiate an agreement for a 75-year master lease with the partnership.

Hutchison wants to bring containers to Galveston, which has been concentrating on breakbulk, ro-ro and project cargo, including high volumes of wind turbine components. The port has gone after container business in the past but the attempt sagged in the face of nearby Houston’s massive operations. The port auctioned off its rusting container cranes several years ago and dedicated the contianer terminal to ro-ro and other breakbulk cargoes.

The new agreement is likely to add containers to the present mix rather than be a major shift, according to Capt. John G. Peterlin III, senior director of marketing and administration for the Port of Galveston.

As outlined, the Hutchison deal would include a new 100-acre container terminal on the west end of Galveston Island, a 20-acre terminal for ro-ro cargo such as farm and industrial vehicles on the east end, and possibly a second container terminal on nearby Pelican.

Galveston’s Wharves Board of Trustees last April hired the Bank of Montreal to look for private investors for the port. Of 80 firms solicited, only the Hutchison-Carlyle joint venture, formed expressly to bid on the Galveston project, was found acceptable by BMO. Hutchison Port Holdings operates more than 50 ports worldwide and handles between 10 and 15 percent of the global container market. The Carlyle Group is a private equity firm based in Washington, D.C.

If an agreement is reached the Port would recieve an approximately US$60 million debt pay off, a share of revenue and profits from cruise and freight business, cash for capital improvements over a 10-year period, and other cash payments. A master lease proposal could be brought before the Wharves Board by this summer, according to local news outlets.

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Journal of Commerce reports Houston Steel, Container Volumes Increase

Houston Steel, Container Volumes Increase

Joseph Bonney
Fri, 10/01/2010 - 14:30
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story


Alternating trend reflects up and down overall economy

Steel and container volumes rose last month at the Port of Houston. The change followed what port CEO Alec G. Dreyer described as a "good month, bad month" pattern reflecting the overall economy.

Steel volume during August totaled 285,000 tons, a fourfold increase from a year earlier. Port CEO Alex G. Dreyer said export steel volume of 60,467 tons was the highest since March 2008. He said overall steel volume during September is expected to total 320,000 to 325,000 tons.

Container traffic in August totaled 152,077 20-foot-equivalent units, up 8.2 percent from a year earlier. Imports rose 6.2 percent to 71,702 TEUs while exports increased 9.2 percent to 80,375 TEUs. Volume through August totaled 1.2 million TEUs, an increase of 2.3 percent.

The port commission signed a two-year, $340,000 contract with Ben Line Agencies Limited Singapore to help the port promote its trade with Asia. Houston handles two-thirds of the container traffic through Gulf ports and is trying to attract Asian services through the Panama Canal, which is adding larger locks to accommodate 12,000-TEU ships.

Ocean Carriers Planning a $500.00 Rate Hike

for Asia - US Containers

The 14 shipping lines of the Transpacific Stabalization agreement are planning to increase rates for Asia - US Containers starting August 1st.

To read more : click here

U.S. Box Imports Plummet 22 Percent
Bill Mongelluzzo Jun 9, 2009 6:28PM GMTThe Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Slight April gain over March gives weak signal for peak season

Container volumes at U.S. ports edged up in April compared to March, but remained well below the volumes recorded in April 2008, according to the monthly Port Tracker published by the National Retail Federation and IHS Global Insight.

The second half of 2009 appears to be trending the same way the first half progressed, with containerized imports creeping up compared to the month before, but down noticeably from the same month last year.

It therefore looks like the back-to-school shopping season this summer, traditionally the second busiest period on retailers' calendars, will be disappointing. Prospects for the holiday shopping season that follows look equally bleak.

These developments are reflected directly in the cargo volumes moving through the eight major U.S. container gateways covered by Port Tracker.

"Retailers are still being cautious with their inventory levels in anticipation of slow sales this summer into the fall," said Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation.

Containerized imports in April increased 2 percent over March, but were down 22 percent compared to April 2008, according to Port Tracker. April was the third lowest month since 2004 and marked the 22nd month in a row of year-over-year declines in volume.

Projections call for May to be down 21 percent and June 19 percent from the same months last year. Port Tracker projects that containerized imports in the first half of 2009 will be down 21 percent compared to the first six months of 2008.

Port Tracker projects volumes in the peak summer-fall months through October will be down about 16 to 18 percent compared to peak season 2008.

Logistically, the U.S. port and intermodal transportation networks are operating efficiently and without any disruptions. Ports are congestion-free from vessel to gate. Rail service levels are good and the harbor trucking industry is operating with excess capacity.

On the other hand, all of these transportation industries are struggling with weak revenues and over-capacity.

Introduction of the federal security program known as the Transportation Worker Identification Credential has successfully taken place at all major gateways.

Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com.

Idle boxship capacity tops 1.1m teu

Janet Porter - Wednesday 18 February 2009 -- World Trade News

CONTAINER shipping faces at least another four years of misery, and probably more, as supply continues to massively out-strip demand. New figures from AXS-Alphaliner show that the number of unemployed boxships has soared over the past couple of weeks as lines continue to cancel services.

By the beginning of this week, an estimated 392 ships with combined total capacity of 1.1m teu were idle, according to AXS-Alphaliner. This represents a huge jump from 303 ships of 800,000 teu out of work at the start of the month, and figures from Lloyd’s MIU last week putting the amount of idle boxship capacity at almost 830,000 teu.

At 1.1m teu, the number of slots withdrawn from service equates to 8.8% of the total cellular fleet, way above the previous peak of 5% touched two decades ago when US Lines went bankrupt and its ships seized, and the 3.2% recorded at the height of the 2002 market slump.

The latest data includes 19 units with nominal capacity in excess of 7,500 teu.

With so much tonnage now either at anchor or in lay-up, AXS-Alphaliner estimates that demand would have to grow at an average of 15% over the next three years to restore equilibrium by early 2013.

That scenario seems totally unrealistic, with a slightly more probable growth figure of 10% pushing supply and demand balance back to 2014.

But the main container trades are actually seeing a drop in overall volumes at the moment, with little on the horizon to suggest any turnround in the foreseeable future.

Asian export ports are reporting a huge decline in outbound traffic as retail spending in the US and Europe remains in the doldrums, while recent statistics from the European Liner Affairs Association showed a steep decline in container line liftings towards the end of last year when the full impact of the credit squeeze hit economies around the world.

AXS-Alphaliner notes that its projections are based on the current fleet and orderbook, and an assumption that 160,000 teu per year will be scrapped, and do not allow for any possible newbuilding cancellations.

Maersk Broker is provisionally forecasting that at least 120,000 teu will be broken up this year, followed by 70,000 teu in 2010, but notes that the final figures for demolition activity are likely to be higher. The first month of 2009 saw just over 40,000 teu sold to breakers.

On the supply side, around 1.8m teu is scheduled for delivery between now and the end of the year, adding 14.6% to the fleet in 2009, followed by another 12.1% in 2010.

Contracting activity remains at a complete standstill, while the shipyards are keeping tightlipped about whether they have agreed to delay deliveries.

Negotiations continue, but most industry sources do not think any firm agreements have yet been reached, with the South Korean yards determined to make clients stick to the terms of their contracts despite enormous pressure from owners and their bankers to reschedule production programmes.

As banks try to find any loophole they can to extract themselves from credit agreements, some owners are now resorting to legal action to force the finance houses to keep to their contractual commitments.

Obama unlikely to repeal 100% box scanning law
Justin Stares, Brussels - Friday 9 January 2009

THERE is little chance of a repeal of US 100% box scanning legislation under president Barack Obama, the World Customs Organisation heard today.

The newly elected Democrat president is not expected to work as hard to oppose the unpopular law as the administration of Republican president George Bush, diplomats heard in Brussels.

The anti-terrorism measure, due to come into effect in 2012, would require all US-bound containers to be scanned prior to ship departure. It has triggered protests from trading partners, in particular the European Union, who say the US is exporting its security concerns at the expense of shippers across the globe.

Mr Obama’s precise position on the law is still unknown since he is not reported to have made reference to it during his election campaign. But WCO executives, who have been lobbying US lawmakers, say the incoming president is unlikely to fight an initiative backed by a Democrat-controlled Congress.

“As for a repeal, we will not see that,” WCO director Michael Schmit told customs ambassadors from around the world at Friday’s New Year’s gathering. The best that could be hoped for was a delay in implementation “beyond 2012”, he said.

“[President] Bush fought against the law,” Mr Schmitz said. But while the US administration had been effectively lobbied, Congress had on the other hand “heard very little”, he said.

This message was reinforced by the newly elected WCO secretary general Kunio Mikurija. “Congress is key,” he said. “Security should not be used as a new barrier [to trade]. We have to convince the US Congress to review the legislation on 100% scanning.”

The WCO, which is pushing for the blanket scanning plan to be replaced by a risk-based system, said it would wait for US appointments to be confirmed, such as that of Secretary for Homeland Security, before resuming its lobbying campaign. Congressional committees, particularly the trade committee, are being targeted as potential allies. The ways and means committee, which has already asked for a postponement to the scanning law, is also expected to lend support.

Within the US there is opposition to trade security legislation on cost grounds. A separate anti-terror measure aimed at the supply chain, known as the “10+2” law, comes into effect later this month and is expected to cost $20bn to implement, the Brussels gathering heard. Shippers will from January 26 have to inform US Customs and Border Protection of new consignment details, such as the container stuffing location and the identity of the stuffer. Financial penalties will apply for non-compliance.

Experts say 100% scanning would be even more costly. Pilot projects at a variety of ports have shown it is technically feasible but would cost up to $100 per box.

Moreover, many in the supply chain industry believe that if implemented it would do little to improve US security.

At the same time, there are hopes some ports would be exempt. “I think this law is more likely to happen under Obama than before,” said the Israeli ambassador to the WCO. “But ports in Europe will probably be alright.”

The European Sea Ports Organisation said it believed “high volume” scanning, not 100% scanning, would be the most likely outcome.

FMCSA issues rule to improve intermodal equipment safety

The new regulations make intermodal equipment providers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for the first time, and establish shared safety responsibility among intermodal equipment providers, motor carriers, and drivers.

The Trucker News Services12/17/2008

WASHINGTON — New rules issued today will significantly strengthen safety requirements for intermodal container chassis, the special trailers that hold cargo containers when they are transferred from ship or rail to truck for final delivery, announced John H. Hill, administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), and published on the Federal Register.

“We want to ensure that every piece of equipment traveling on our highways is operating safely,” said Hill. “These new rules will bring new safety and enforcement focus on the chassis and equipment used to haul goods on our nation’s roads every day.”

The new regulations make intermodal equipment providers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) for the first time, and establish shared safety responsibility among intermodal equipment providers, motor carriers, and drivers.

Beginning in December 2009, intermodal equipment providers must have in effect regular and systematic inspection, repair, and maintenance programs for intermodal chassis; they will also need to track defects reported and repairs made. By December 2010, each intermodal provider is required to identify its equipment with a USDOT number. FMCSA’s final rule also outlines inspection requirements for motor carriers and drivers operating intermodal equipment.

Intermodal equipment providers will be subject to on-site reviews to ensure compliance with the new rules. Penalties for violating these rules range from civil fines to a prohibition on providing or operating intermodal equipment found to pose an imminent hazard.

The final rule on this Intermodal Chassis is available for review here.

Barb Kampbell of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at barkkampbell@thetrucker.com.

More Containers are falling Overboard

Over the years we have seen an increase in the number of containers that come to our facility with shifted cargo. In turn we've also seen many of our customers come to us asking that we recenter the cargo before shipment.

Having seen all this we take great care to be sure that everything leaving our warehouse facilities is loaded with weight distributed as evenly as possible then blocked and properly secured.

Many times we've been asked by a customer, can't you just stick it in the container and let it go. . . . don't bother blocking it. We stick to our guns as we want to give your cargo a fighting chance to arrive at it's final destination in good condition.

MORE CONTAINERS ARE FALLING OVERBOARD
July 28, 2008 from Shippers Digest PETER T. LEACH AND WILLIAM ARMBRUSTER

The P&O Nedlloyd Mondriaan was steaming off the coast of the Netherlands with its decks stacked high with containers from the Far East on Feb. 9, 2006, when it was hit from astern with waves driven by winds of force 8 to 9 on the Beaufort scale. As the vessel rolled with the waves, 59 loaded containers tumbled overboard.

Ten days later, as the 7,500-TEU vessel was returning to the Far East with a cargo of empty containers, it ran into another storm in the Bay of Biscay, with headwinds of the same gale force. The ship lost another 50 containers. On the same day in the same storm in about the same location, the CMA CGM Otello, a vessel of approximately the same capacity but of a different design, lost 50 boxes.

These incidents were among the first of a mounting tally of containers lost overboard during the last two years. In 2006 and 2007, there were “significant” incidents where at least 36 ships lost a total of more than 1,600 boxes overboard. The full extent of the problem is unclear because there’s no central repository for the data, and many ship lines understandably aren’t eager to publicize lost containers.

“There appears to be a trend of near-catastrophic losses of containers stowed on deck of container ships,” said James Craig, president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters.
One reason for that trend is the practice of loading heavier containers on top of lighter boxes. That has become more common as ships get larger and carry ever more containers.
Container stacks above deck can vary in height between four to 10 or more high and it’s usually just the lower boxes that are cross-braced, leaving the top containers at the mercy of the pin locks on the four corners of the can holding it to the next, said Rick Bridges, vice president of Roanoke Trade Services, an insurance broker.

Unfortunately, shippers really can’t do much to prevent their cargo from going overboard, he said. In most cases, the carriers decide where the container is placed, he said. “Considerations such as commodity, weight, destination or transship points all are taken into account. So in short, the shipper cannot choose whether he is above or below deck,” he said.

As far as anything shippers can do to be proactive in preventing damage due to rolling and pitching of the vessel, Bridges suggests that they hire a surveyor to show them how to properly block and brace cargo.

“This goes a long way, especially if there is a claim where the suitability of packing is brought into question by the insurance company or steamship line. If the shipper can go back and prove that packing was performed as recommended by an accredited surveyor, then they stand a much better chance of getting their claim settled without issues,” he said.