After two years of record-breaking volumes, annual container throughput at Westports has slowed in 2017, finally impacted by the dramatic realignments in the liner alliances. The Malaysian port operator said in a stock market announcement that annual throughput for 2017 was 9.0m teu, down from the 9.95m teu posted in 2016. The fall in volume was however flagged by the company at its second quarter results briefing and is in line with its expectations. “The result is within the volume…

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ACL is to quit calling the Swedish Port of Gothenburg citing increasing costs and lower productivity. ACL said that the “big change” to its 2018 schedule was the change of serving Gothenburg by feeder rather than by direct call. Following the change ACL’s 2018 European port rotation will be Liverpool-Hamburg-Antwerp-Liverpool while the North American rotation will remain as North American port rotation of Halifax-New York-Baltimore-Norfolk-New York-Halifax. “ACL has called at Gothenburg for all of its 50 years, so this is…

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Smaller port operators may have a chance to leapfrog into the limelight as global trade patterns change, with gateway ports gaining prominence, and this year could prove to be transformative. Commenting on the year ahead, international law firm Ince & Co said shifting economic trends, trade flows and global demographic patterns, in tandem with changes in port ownership and ongoing investment in modernisation and expansion are creating the conditions for what could be a defining year for the global ports…

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CMA CGM has restarted its third direct service between Iran and Asia. The French container line resumed the CIMEX 9 service on 16 December from Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The CIMEX 9 service calls a rotation of Kaohsiung – Shanghai – Ningbo – Xiamen – Shenzhen – Bandar Abbas and Jebel Ali. It offers a 19-day transit time between Shanghai and Bandar Abbas. It is CMA CGM’s third direct Iran – Asia services joining CIMEX 6 and CIMEX 8. The company said it…

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Regional Container Lines (RCL) is launching its first service from Colombo to Tuticorin. The RCL Colombo – Tuticorin service (RTC) will serve the two ports twice weekly with the inaugural sailing on 8 January with the vessel Charlie. Charlie Chu, RCL evp business said “Introducing this new service to the market is in response to main line operators requesting for more feedering options. “Being a feeder company, we have been strongly encouraged by main line operators forecasting an increase in…

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Cosco Shipping Ports (CSP) saw container volume growth momentum slow down towards the end of the year with overall throughput in November rising 8.9% to 7.52m teu from 6.91m teu in November 2016, driven by solid performance at its overseas ports and the newer southeast and southwest coast ports, although the pace of growth was a touch off from the 12.4% month-on-month rise seen in October and the general double digit rises seen through most of the year. CSP’s overseas ports…

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Hutchison Ports BEST Terminal in Barcelona has hit a new throughput record this year with over 1m moves. The semi-automated terminal passed the 1 millionth move (equal to 1.8m teu) on 15 December. The 1 millionth container was loaded on the 13,800 teu MSC Bettina operated by MSC. “We are proud of reaching this latest milestone. The new record highlights BEST’s value proposition delivering the highest berth efficiency in the Mediterranean and the fastest delivery processes for trucks and trains,”…

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Port Corpus Christi Commission chairman, Charles W. Zahn, has announced that executive director John LaRue will retire at end of this year and will be succeeded by Sean Strawbridge, currently the Port’s deputy executive director and coo, who will take over as ceo from 1 January 2018. John LaRue would step down from his duties as executive director on 1 January 2018, and officially retire from the Port in June 2019 and will serve in a senior advisory capacity to…

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Domestic trade cargo throughput in the third quarter rose at ports in China, as did overall trade in South Korea. In the container trade, throughput rose at North American ports while growth stagnated in Europe due to the varying effects of the realignment of the alliances on the various sectors. According to Shanghai International Shipping Institute’s (SISI) latest Global Port Development Report of Q3 2017, major global economic indicators remained at high levels, suggesting that the ongoing global economic recovery remains…

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Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) in a consortium with Van Hattum en Blankevoort (Royal VolkerWessels) and TBI subsidiary Mobilis has been awarded a contract by the Port of Rotterdam Authority to build quay walls and a jetty, as well as to execute related activities for the construction of a new tank terminal in the port of Rotterdam. The contract is valued at more than $120m, with Boskalis’ share amounting to $40.3m. The project will commence in early 2018 and is expected to…

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