Tag: <span>US Ports</span>

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) has eliminated the backlog of container ships that numbered between 15 and 20 just a few weeks ago, but says it is likely some inbound vessels will have to sit at anchor over the next few months because Charleston’s Wando Welch Terminal will be operating with two berths instead of three through November owing to construction work.

The port was able to clear all the recently anchored vessels, helped by a temporary reopening of all Wando Welch’s berths last week amid a 10-day pause in the project work.

Construction work will resume July 15, again taking down a berth at Wando, but a port spokesperson said any delays will be minimal until August due to the nature of the work. Next month, customers should expect 48-hour delays getting into the port; those delays could extend into September and October depending on import volumes and progress made on the full opening of the Hugh K. Leatherman marine terminal.

“Our SC Ports team and maritime partners are working together to ensure fluidity for our customers amid this critical infrastructure project,” SC Ports CEO Barbara Melvin said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce.

The project work involves the construction of something called a toe wall, a structure that is necessary to retain the inner harbor depth at 54 feet to accommodate ultra-large container vessels. The work includes installing steel sheets along the wharf that act as a barrier to prevent sediment and soil from accumulating in the harbor and reducing the channel depth.

SC Ports also said it is in close communication with ocean carriers and customers about the progress of the toe wall work to ensure there is no “ping-pong” effect in which ocean carriers drop Charleston cargo into Savannah to avoid any potential delays.

During the pandemic, ocean carriers skipped Savannah to avoid delays and dropped Savannah-bound cargo in Charleston. The trucking community could not handle the longer drays and the result was that the delays shifted from Savannah to Charleston. SC Ports CEO Barbara Melvin has previously said she does not believe such a “ping-pong” effect will happen again because terminal operations are fluid in Charleston.

Leatherman, meanwhile, will reopen before the end of the year, according to port officials, but an official date has not been announced. If it happens before the work at Wando Welch is completed, it would put Charleston back at three operating berths again capable of handling ultra-large container vessels.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024, July 9). Charleston clears vessel backlog, but expects some delays through November. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/charleston-clears-vessel-backlog-expects-some-delays-through-november_20240709.html

The Port of Charleston’s Hugh K. Leatherman marine terminal is ramping up operations after the South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) and the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) reached a settlement in a long-running dispute that has kept the terminal largely offline since its opening in 2021.

The agreement, which follows the ILA’s de-facto victory in a legal case that almost reached the US Supreme Court, gives Leatherman’s crane operators “a choice to remain state employees or become an ILA member,” SC Ports said in a statement. State employees at its other container terminals can also elect to become ILA members, or they can remain an employee of SC Ports.

The deal also effectively increases Charleston’s container handling capacity by a third at a time when the port is working to clear a backlog of five ships waiting to unload.

SC Ports said in the statement its board of directors at a meeting Tuesday approved a “framework for the transition and change in labor staffing” at the Leatherman terminal that will allow ocean carriers in the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) to call the Leatherman terminal without the threat of violating their master contract with the ILA. SC Ports said the deal creates “long-term stability and competitiveness” for Charleston.

“It is now a new day, and we must cooperatively adapt to the reality of the new labor staffing allocation,” SC Ports Chief Executive Barbara Melvin told the board of a directors, according to a transcript of the meeting obtained Wednesday. “And that means working collaboratively with the ILA in a way to get Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal reopened as quickly as possible.”

Details please refer to JOC news.

Source:

Angell, M. (2024b, June 28). Near-normal water levels allowing more ship transits through Panama Canal. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/near-normal-water-levels-allowing-more-ship-transits-through-panama-canal_20240628.html

The South Carolina Ports Authority (SC Ports) will take a two-week pause on a construction project which has shut down one of three berths at the Wando Welch Terminal, using the break to eliminate the queue of about a dozen vessels anchored outside Charleston.

While the exact date of when the berth project will be paused hasn’t been determined, it will occur sometime shortly after the July 4 holiday and allow the port to leave all three berths open, according to Barbara Melvin, CEO of SC Ports.

The Port of Charleston closed one of three berths in the Wando Welch Terminal when construction began in March, but it would have likely gone unnoticed had there not been a software malfunction that shut the port down for two days in May.

Melvin said the infrastructure project impacted the number of vessels anchored, but the closure exacerbated the problem. While there were several anchored vessels in early May, the total ballooned to nearly 20 after the software malfunction.

As of Thursday morning, the vessel backlog was back down to 10, and the port authority plans to get that number into the single digits before the end of the month.

“We had built into our contract a 10-business day pause, and we felt like, knowing July 4th was coming up, that the pause was necessary to allow us to clear out this ship queue,” Barbara Melvin, CEO of SC Ports, told the Journal of Commerce. “I won’t hide from it, the technical issues really did add to this situation. The pause will give us that opportunity to catch up and reset without that technical issue exacerbating the problem anymore.”

Even after the pause is ended, vessels might have to wait between two to three days for a berth, she said.

Necessary work

The construction project to fortify the toe wall is necessary to allow the newest and largest container ships to safely dock in Charleston. The toe wall helps to withstand the forces of water currents and vessel movements, keeping the inner harbor dredged to 54 feet.

Maintaining the depth of an inner harbor requires recurring maintenance, no matter the port, to counter the effects of erosion and the accumulation of sediment, which otherwise would reduce the depth over time.

Since May, the port has taken several measures to reduce the supply chain impact of the anchored vessels. Ocean carriers are utilizing slots offered at 1:00 a.m. to load and unload vessels rather than the mid-morning, early afternoon or evening slots. SC Ports provides a virtual platform to inform ocean carriers the estimated berth time for their vessels, enabling them to save fuel, time and money.

Some ships have been diverted to the North Charleston terminal, but ultra-large container vessels cannot call there due to the current vertical clearance of the Don Holt Bridge.

Source:

Congestion is building outside the southeast US ports of Charleston and Savannah, with more than 20 vessels combined awaiting a berth due to an ongoing infrastructure project at Charleston as well as the lingering effects from the software malfunction the port experienced almost two weeks ago.

The Port of Charleston and South Carolina inland ports in Dillon and Greer were closed for nearly two days May 20-21 because of the software problem.

“The backlog we’re experiencing is in part from our temporary operational impacts from last week, but also due to ongoing work with the toe wall project at Wando Welch Terminal — a critical infrastructure project for our operations,” a spokesperson for the South Carolina Ports Authority told the Journal of Commerce Friday.

The spokesperson said the toe wall structure maintains a stable slope beneath the wharf and provides an edge for berth deepening, improvements that will allow the berths to maintain a depth of 54 feet.

The toe wall project will keep one of the three berths at Wando Welch out of commission until the fall, meaning the terminal will only be able to handle two vessels at a time until the work is completed. That could result in anchored vessels outside Charleston until then.

“We are working diligently to bring the Leatherman Terminal back online, which will provide additional capacity,” the spokesperson said. “We are offering a virtual vessel queue time in which we communicate with ocean carriers about our estimated berthing time and their ETA. This helps them avoid rushing to wait, enabling them to save fuel, time, and money.”

The Leatherman Terminal has been underutilized since it opened in 2021 after the International Longshoremen’s Association sued ocean carriers calling the terminal because non-union labor operated its cranes and other lift equipment. The US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in February of a lower court decision upholding the union’s right to sue.

Meanwhile, some ocean carriers have decided to switch their rotations to stop in Savannah before Charleston, according to a source who asked not to be identified, causing congestion to build there, too. It’s essentially the reverse of what happened in 2022 when berth construction in Savannah caused vessels to anchor outside that harbor and resulted in ocean carriers switching some rotations to stop in Charleston first.

There have been no significant complaints about the congestion at either port from importers restocking on inventory, but it’s possible the delays will cause some consternation for exporters who will have to pay attention to the earliest receiving dates to bring cargo into the terminals.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024, May 31). Vessel congestion building outside Charleston, Savannah. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/vessel-congestion-building-outside-charleston-savannah_20240531.html

It will take the South Carolina Ports Authority a week or more to restore normal cargo flow through its network following the software malfunction that forced the closure of truck gates at Charleston’s marine terminals and SC Ports’ two inland ports for most of two days, trucking companies that work the market said Tuesday.

SC Ports, in a statement late Tuesday afternoon, said cargo pickups and drop-offs had resumed at all marine terminals and Inland Port Greer. The statement did not mention Inland Port Dillon, but a spokesperson for the port authority said the facility remained closed.

Additionally, SC Ports said it would extend gate hours until 7 pm Tuesday at the Wando Welch and North Charleston marine terminals “to support our motor carriers and cargo owners.”

“We appreciate the support of our maritime community and the patience of partners as we work through the restart of operations,” the port authority said.

SC Ports has said the widespread software problem that surfaced on Sunday did “not appear to be a cybersecurity issue.” A spokesperson for the port said the software vendor confirmed that the root cause of the malfunction was a technical issue, not cyber related.

While operations have mostly resumed, truckers say working through the backlog of containers that weren’t moving for almost two days has only just begun.

“In general, we still anticipate backlogs for a week or two,” a source at one trucking company told the Journal of Commerce.

On an average day, about 6,000 to 8,000 truck transactions are handled at the Wando Welch and North Charleston marine terminals, according to the South Carolina Ports Authority. Wando is the primary container location in Charleston. Other operations inside the terminal returned to normal on Monday, including loading and unloading vessels and moving boxes within the yard.

Trucking companies are concerned about short-term equipment shortages due to the pileup of cargo requiring drays to customers. A second large trucking company with operations in Charleston warned that shippers might receive accessorial fees on invoices due to the congestion.

“Even after the backlogs subside, we anticipate per diem and chassis usage cost impacts and disputes created as a result,” a source at the company told the Journal of Commerce.

Aside from the landside concerns, there will also be downstream effects outside the harbor. As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 13 container ships anchored outside Charleston, meaning the port will need to devote extra resources to clear the backlog of vessels.

Winding through unexpected fees

There are several types of accessorial fees that could become an issue in Charleston in the coming weeks, but a port official said the issues can be easily resolved.

First, there is the question of how ocean carriers and the port authority will treat the free time on containers discharged from vessels on Monday. Port officials will invoice ocean carriers for excessive use of the terminal grounds and ocean carriers will add their fees for not removing the container in a timely fashion in a demurrage invoice. The port told the Journal of Commerce that it will not count Monday or Tuesday toward its demurrage invoices.

Secondly, cargo owners may ask questions about detention penalties – i.e. penalties for not returning the empty container back within a pre-determined window. If a shipper was unable to return its empty container because the terminal was not accepting boxes, would the ocean carrier waive the fee charged on Monday since truck gates were unavailable? In TCW v. Evergreen, the Federal Maritime Commission ruled that a marine terminal must be open to incentivize the flow of containers through accessorial fees. The port did not comment on this issue since it’s a question for the ocean carriers.

The port also told the Journal of Commerce that it will not charge customers for chassis usage on Monday or Tuesday, and it would add an extra day for exporters to deposit their cargo if their window began prior to Monday.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024b, May 21). SC ports resumes most operations, but recovery just beginning. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/sc-ports-resumes-most-operations-recovery-just-beginning_20240521.html

No cargo pickups or drop-offs were occurring throughout the South Carolina Ports Authority’s (SC Ports’) network Tuesday morning as SC Ports faced a second day dealing with a software issue that has disrupted its operations.

“SC Ports has made further progress on our gate issue, but it is not entirely resolved,” the port authority said in an advisory posted on its website at 10 am local time Tuesday. “We understand the impact that this issue is having on our partners in the industry.”

SC Ports planned to resume full operations at its marine terminals and inland ports at 5 am Tuesday after it was forced to close all terminal gates to truckers on Monday in Charleston and at inland ports Dillon and Greer because of the software malfunction. But with the issue not entirely resolved, the 5 am restart time was scuttled.

“SC Ports is working diligently to resume all operations as quickly as possible following a vendor software issue that impacted a server,” it said. “Work is progressing, and many systems have been restored.”

The port authority said Monday the issue did “not appear to be a cybersecurity issue.”

Few details are known about the extent of the software issue and whether it impacts only the truck gates or all operations inside the terminals such as ship-to-shore cranes, yard hostler vehicles and container stacks.

A spokesperson for SC Ports, in response to questions from the Journal of Commerce on Monday, said: “For security reasons, we are not going to detail our systems.”

A source with knowledge of the problem, however, called the software issue “temporary,” and added that “other operations are ongoing.”

“We were able to continue working vessels over the weekend and today and will continue to do so as able,” the source said.

Rail ramps affected

The closure affects the 6,000 to 8,000 truck transactions per day that the port authority handles, including the 500 to 650 containers outgated on trucks that are taken to terminals run by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway (NS). If the situation is not cleared up shortly, CSX and NS will have to develop a plan to prevent its terminals from being overrun with exports.

The closures of Inland Port Dillon and Inland Port Greer might have a cascade effect on Memphis business if SC Ports doesn’t reopen on Tuesday morning. On an average day, about 100 ocean containers travel between Charleston and Memphis in either direction.

SC Ports was also beginning to see a backlog of vessels, with eight container ships docked outside Charleston as of Monday afternoon.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024, May 21). Gates remain closed at Charleston, inland ports amid ongoing software issue. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/gates-remain-closed-charleston-inland-ports-amid-ongoing-software-issue_20240521.html

 

The Port of Baltimore is preparing to handle the return of cargo at the end of May as container lines begin accepting loads on Asian services for delivery to terminals that have been blocked since the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge following the crash of the container ship Dali.

Longshore labor is keeping rail gantry cranes and other motorized equipment humming and state aid is being distributed to port workers who are not working due to the sudden disappearance of container, roll-on/roll-off and bulk volumes, Jonathan Daniels, CEO of the Maryland Port Authority, said in a Tuesday interview.

Container lines, which normally operate six weekly services connecting to Baltimore, have told the port authority they have begun accepting bookings for shipments to the port, Daniels said. Maersk’s recently relaunched TP20 service from Asia, for example, will be one of the first services to return to Baltimore, he said.

Maersk’s decision to keep Baltimore as a US port of call, in addition to Newark and Houston, on the Panama Canal express service “shows a commitment that while there is a temporary blip, (carriers) do realize that this is, in fact, temporary and it’s not a long-term indication that the port has some type of structural issue,” Daniels said.

Container growth momentum, driven by distribution center expansion from customers Floor and Decor and Con-Air, remains — even if it can’t be tapped at the moment, said Daniels, who took over at the port authority less than two months before the 9,962-TEU Dali collided with the Key Bridge. Floor and Decor is doubling its distribution center at the Tradepoint Atlantic terminal to 2.8 million square feet, while Con-Air will open a 2.5 million-square foot facility later this month in Hagerstown, Pennsylvania.

Details please refer to the JOC news.

Source:

Szakonyi, M. (2024, May 1). Baltimore readying for return of Asia volumes as recovery takes shape: Port CEO. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/baltimore-readying-return-asia-volumes-recovery-takes-shape-port-ceo_20240501.html

 

The Port of Virginia is expanding its operating hours to handle the increased cargo volumes now bypassing the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26.

The Virginia Port Authority (VPA) said the Virginia International Gateway (VIG) terminal and Norfolk International Terminals (NIT) will extend their gates during the week, with new hours being 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. Additionally, VIG will be open on Saturdays from 8 am to 5 pm.

VIG had not been open on any Saturdays this year after having sporadic Saturday hours from 2021 through 2023 to handle occasional spikes in import volumes. NIT will remain closed on Saturdays.

VPA did not put an end date on the expanded hours, only saying it will monitor the Baltimore cargo it handles to determine if truck drivers at some point are able to handle the Baltimore-related cargo during normal weekday hours.

The US Army Corps of Engineers last week said it is planning to reopen Baltimore’s port to vessel traffic on a limited basis by the end of April, with a full reopening hoped for by the end of May.

More than 400 Baltimore-area truck drivers have registered to temporarily operate at the Port of Virginia, according to the VPA. The Maryland drivers will deliver cargo to destinations in Maryland and Pennsylvania normally routed through Baltimore.

“The Maryland-based motor carriers that are coming here to pick up Baltimore-bound cargo have a full day of driving ahead of them and we want this group of drivers to have a safe, efficient, and quick transaction here so they can get back on the road and headed home,” a VPA spokesperson said. “Extending our operating hours is one way of taking an additional step to help out a neighbor.”

The US Department of Transportation offered some relief on April 4, granting an exemption permitting drivers to work an additional two hours of drive time beyond the federal limits if the cargo is connected to the Port of Baltimore closure. Drivers, however, would still not be allowed to exceed 14 hours on roadways.

Norfolk Southern Railway could also serve as a relief valve for diverted cargo because it runs trains to the Virginia Inland Port in Front Royal, Va. For certain destinations in western Maryland and Pennsylvania, a rail option to Front Royal would reduce the workload on a truck driver.

VPA said there is “a lot of interest in Virginia Inland Port and we expect some additional volume there,” although it’s unclear how may containers will be railed to Front Royal.

Some differences for drivers

Maryland drivers need to be aware of two key differences between the Port of Baltimore and the Port of Virginia.

There is a mandatory appointment system until 4:00 p.m. to pick up or drop off cargo at Norfolk, something Maryland drivers might not be accustomed to because no such requirement exists in Baltimore.

The Port of Virginia also has its own chassis pool, which means if a driver uses the port authority equipment, the individual will have to return the unit back to Norfolk. The driver cannot return a Port of Virginia-branded chassis to Baltimore. However, drivers are permitted to use outside chassis at the Port of Virginia, so they could bring one from Baltimore and use it in Norfolk.

Source:

Ashe, A. (2024, April 10). Norfolk expands hours to handle cargo volumes shifted from Baltimore. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/norfolk-expands-hours-handle-cargo-volumes-shifted-baltimore_20240410.html

Maersk will resume transits through the Panama Canal in May on its Ocean-Americas (OC1) service after the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced a slight increase in the number of permitted daily vessel transits through the drought-hit waterway.

The carrier, which announced the move in an advisory Friday, has since January been using the adjacent canal railroad to transfer boxes between terminals on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

Maersk said it had been “closely monitoring” the introduction of additional transit slots by the ACP in recent weeks before deciding to shift back to using the canal on its OC1 service. The first northbound canal transit will be by the Maersk Inverness about May 17, while the initial southbound transit will be made by the Spirit of Auckland around May 20.

The OC1 service “will return to its pre-existing rotation that was in place prior to the current two-loop setup established with the Panama Rail connection,” Maersk said. The use of the rail link “will be phased out by the end of May,” the carrier added.

Maersk’s two-loop service involved ships operating between Philadelphia, Charleston and Manzanillo in Panama and Balboa (Panama), Tauranga (New Zealand) and Melbourne (Australia).

Maersk confirmed the new rotation of the single-loop OC1 service via the canal would include calls at Philadelphia, Charleston, Balboa, Melbourne, Port Chalmers (New Zealand), Tauranga, Manzanillo, Cristobal and Cartagena.

Maersk has been using the canal for its other services, a carrier spokesperson said.

Hapag-Lloyd and Ocean Network Express confirmed transits through the Panama Canal have been fully restored on their three Asia-US East Coast trans-Pacific services operated under THE Alliance network. That follows a partial shift back to canal transits at the beginning of this year after vessels were diverted via the Cape of Good Hope when drought-related vessel restrictions were at their toughest.

Vessel slots increased

The ACP as of the end of March increased the number of daily vessel slots available through the canal to 27 from 24. That followed an improvement in actual and projected water levels on the Gatun Lake, a chokepoint on the canal system, following heavy rain in the canal watershed.

Drought restrictions had been imposed in the middle of last year, leading to long vessel queues with more than 100 ships waiting to transit the waterway in August.

“ACP may also increase the number of slots offered through auction, depending on the Gatun Lake’s level projections,” the authority said in a statement.

That comes as queue waiting times for both northbound and southbound transits for non-booked vessels are down to less than a day, ACP figures showed Friday. That is a significant improvement from February, when the average wait time for ships without bookings was five days for northbound vessels and four days for southbound vessels.

Some 49 ships, including 41 that have transit bookings, were waiting to pass through the canal Friday, according to ACP data.

Source:

Wallis, K. (2024, April 5). Maersk to resume Panama Canal transits on OC1 service as vessel restrictions ease. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/maersk-resume-panama-canal-transits-oc1-service-vessel-restrictions-ease_20240405.html

The Port of Baltimore is preparing workarounds to start handling containers and other ocean freight on a limited basis within the next four weeks ahead of a planned full reopening to vessel traffic by the end of May. The expedited reopening marks a rapid recovery for Baltimore following the vessel collision and bridge collapse that closed its main shipping channel early last week.

Meanwhile, other ports along the US East Coast continue to process diverted Baltimore-bound cargo with little to no impact on their operations. Even so, ocean carriers are pushing diversion-related fees onto shippers during Baltimore’s closure.

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) said in a statement Thursday it expects to clear the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge from Baltimore’s 50-foot-deep shipping channel by the end of May, “restoring port access to normal capacity.”

It was unclear in the immediate aftermath of the March 26 collision of the 9,962-TEU Dali into the bridge how long it would take for the port to reopen. Gen. Scott Spellmon said in the statement the USACE now has “a better understanding of the immense and complex work” of removing the 4,000 tons of debris resting on top of the Dali, allowing it to be refloated.

“A fully opened federal channel remains our primary goal,” Spellmon said. “These are ambitious timelines that may still be impacted by significant adverse weather conditions or changes in the complexity of the wreckage.”

Ahead of the full reopening, the USACE said it will open a 35-foot-deep channel by the end of April that will support one-way vessel traffic into Baltimore harbor. That channel will support the restart of a container-on-barge service offered by Columbia Coastal Transport that shuttles between the Port of Virginia, which has been receiving ships diverted from Baltimore, and Seagirt Marine Terminal in Baltimore.

The service uses two US-flagged barges of approximately 900-TEU capacity. Transit time from Norfolk to Baltimore is approximately two days.

In addition, the 35-foot channel will allow some roll-on/roll-off (ro/ro) vessels to resume calls at Baltimore. Baltimore’s Dundalk Marine Terminal and Fairfield Marine Terminal, which handle the bulk of the Baltimore’s ro/ro vessels, are also cut off to vessel traffic, forcing ro/ro vessels to divert to the TradePoint Atlantic logistics facility located outside the port’s inner harbor.

The container-on-barge service would complement inter-port rail services that are moving Baltimore-bound ocean containers diverted to the Port of New York and New Jersey back to Seagirt for local pickup. Norfolk Southern is working on a similar service that will bring ocean containers to Virginia’s Front Royal inland port, where they can be trucked into Maryland.

Details please refer to JOC news.

Source:

Angell, M. (2024, April 5). Baltimore preps for limited port reopening by end of April. Journal of Commerce. https://www.joc.com/article/baltimore-preps-limited-port-reopening-end-april_20240405.html