Author Archives: tfli.com

PMA, ILWU Negotiations Begin on Positive Note

Contract negotiators between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association began yesterday on an upbeat note. “Both sides said they expect cargo to keep moving until an agreement is reached,” the ILWU and the employers association that represents shipping lines and terminal operators said in a joint statement. The current six-year […]

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Proposed Merger of Ports of L.A., Long Beach ‘Fraught with Political Uncertainties’

Citing a drop in market share by the busiest port complex in the U.S., the Los Angeles 2020 Commission has issued a recommendation to merge the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, an idea likely to revive tensions between the rival seaports. The commission, made up of prominent business, labor and civic leaders, outlined […]

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Specter of Longshore Unrest in June Makes Seattle Waterfront Uneasy

Port and maritime leaders are closely watching developments with the West Coast’s longshore union, worried that any labor issues around the contract that expires June 30 could divert cargo elsewhere. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union is one of the most powerful unions in the country, with the power to shut down cargo movements over the […]

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CSAV Tie-up With Hapag-Lloyd Approved by Shareholders

Cia. Sud Americana de Vapores SA shareholders approved a proposed combination of its container shipping operations with Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd AG to create the fourth-largest container line in the world. Shareholders that own 84.5 percent of the company’s stock voted in favor of the deal, by which CSAV will exchange all of its container shipping assets […]

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Tacoma Port Bests Seattle in 2013 Container Count

The Port of Tacoma pulled significantly ahead of the Port of Seattle in container count during 2013, largely a result of the move of the Grand Alliance group of steamship lines from Seattle to Tacoma in 2012. Whatever bragging rights that may bring Tacoma, the region’s overall erosion in cargo market share is pushing the […]

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U.S., Europe, China Regulators Likely to Clear Container-ship Alliance

LONDON—U.S., European and Chinese regulators are likely to give the thumbs up to an alliance of three container-shipping companies, but not before demanding concessions to limit their dominance of the world’s busiest shipping routes, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Denmark’s Maersk Line, France’s CMA CGM and Switzerland’s Mediterranean Shipping Co.—the world’s […]

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Transpacific Container Shippers Plan Freight Rate Rise

Container shipping lines have agreed to raise Asia-U.S. freight rates in two stages, by $200 per 40-foot container (FEU) from Dec. 20 and then by a further $300 per FEU from Jan. 15, in an effort to halt current losses, their organisation TSA said. Transpacific container shipping lines regard late holiday season shipments in December […]

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Hanjin Shipping Leaving Port of Portland

Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd., the Port of Portland’s biggest trans-Pacific container carrier, confirmed the shipping line intends to pull out of Portland, ending two decades of service to exporters and importers. Ending weekly service would be a major blow to the Northwest economy, hurting big importers such as Fred Meyer and Columbia Sportswear Co. and […]

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ILA Delegates Approve, in Principle, Master Contract

Wage scale delegates for the International Longshoremen’s Association on Tuesday afternoon approved, in principle, the proposed aspects of a master contract for its dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts. ILA spokesman Jim McNamara said the union and representatives of the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX), the group that represents employers, will meet jointly on […]

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Hong Kong Dockworkers Refuse to Back Down in Port Strike

HONG KONG (AP) — Striking Hong Kong dockworkers refused to back down Wednesday in a weeklong pay dispute that is slowing cargo shipments at the world’s third busiest port. Several hundred dockworkers and supporters camped out on the road in front of a container terminal. The workers are demanding a 20 percent pay raise to […]

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