Container Management In-depth articles on a wide range of topics in global port and terminal development

A new study released by the OECD and the International Transport Forum (ITF) has claimed that the current system of direct and indirect maritime subsidies is failing taxpayers. The report recommends redesigning subsidies schemes to harmonise policies, clarify objectives, make them more conditional on positive impacts, avoid market distortions and improve transparency. The authors noted: “The nature of the maritime ... Read More »

Generator sets (gensets) from Thermo King are now available as part of the rental offering from Thornton Group, Antwerp, a Belgium-based provider of services to the refrigerated container industry. According to the manufacturer, the operational flexibility that comes with the offering is specifically important for transporters and customers moving temperature sensitive goods on sea and land seasonally that do not ... Read More »

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) plans to double capacity at the Port of Savannah’s Garden City Terminal to 11m teu per year, as US East Coast ports continue in their efforts to become more competitive on multiple trade routes. The Port of Savannah moved a record 4.5m teu in the 2019 fiscal year, a 7% increase, with the hub handling ... Read More »

With the trade war between the US and China showing no signs of abating, American importers have begun sourcing products from alternative low-cost Asian countries, according to data from Descartes Datamyne. China’s share of Asian imports to the US fell by around 4% in the first half of 2018, with single digit percentage increases in volume from Vietnam, South Korea, ... Read More »

The Ecuadorian subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) has launched an insurance programme for growers at the world’s largest banana-exporting port, giving them greater coverage for transport. Compared to traditional insurance, which only covers limited phases in the transportation of the fruit, the integral transport insurance means that the product is covered until delivery at the destination of ... Read More »

Ricaurte Vásquez Morales, Ph.D., an economist with more than 30 years’ experience in the public and private sector, has been sworn in as the new administrator of the Panama Canal for a seven-year term. Vásquez stated: “Just a few months short of the 20th anniversary of the transfer of the Canal to the Panamanian people, we face a distinctly different reality ... Read More »

Maersk Oil Trading and Koole Terminals have agreed to produce IMO 2020-compliant bunker fuel, with production expected to cover 5-10% of Maersk’s annual demand. The production will take place at the the Petrochemical Industrial Distillation (PID) unit, located at Koole’s Botlek site at the Port of Rotterdam. The toll distillation deal allows Maersk to produce VLSFO bunker fuel and will ... Read More »

Navis has launched MACS3 API Services, aiming to facilitate safer vessel visits and improve visibility of dangerous goods flowing through ports. Key stakeholders in the ocean shipping supply chain will be able to access specific loading calculations that can help team members better manage safe cargo handling across the supply chain and improve collaboration and efficiency for the port, terminal operators and ... Read More »

Reefer container equipment availability will remain tight over the next few years which will impact shipping capacity supply and freight rates at seasonal peaks according to Drewry. Production of new refrigerated containers recovered during 2017 and gathered pace in 2018 after a dramatic halt in expenditure by cash-strapped carriers in 2016. Drewry expects the reefer container equipment fleet to maintain ... Read More »

PSA International has made its first foray into the US port market with the completion of its acquisition of Penn Terminals, a multipurpose facility located on the Delaware River on the US East Coast. Penn, which was purchased from Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, offers handling of container, perishable, project, super sack, steel, pipes, forest products and other break-bulk cargoes. Tan Chong ... Read More »