Port of NY & NJ Confirms Capability to Handle Larger Vessels

On June 7, officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that the Port of New York and New Jersey will be able to handle 14,000 TEU vessels toward the end of 2017. The planned completion of the 50-foot Harbor Deepening Project later this summer and...

Second Airline Suspends Flights To Venezuela

The largest airline in Latin America, Latam, says it is suspending its flights to Venezuela because of the worsening economic situation. The suspension came a day after Germany’s Lufthansa said it would suspend its services to the country. The German company said Venezuela owed it millions in ticket revenues. Oil-rich...

IMO urges countries to allow initial SOLAS enforcement flexibility

Shippers, marine terminals and container lines could get some leeway in the first three months of the new SOLAS container weighing rule, after the International Maritime Organization urged its members to exercise “practical and pragmatic” policies when the rule takes effect July 1. In addition to encouraging the 162 signatory...

Le Havre Braced For Fresh Strike Action

France’s biggest container port Le Havre is bracing itself for fresh strike action later this week following several days of disruptions last week as port workers and other transport workers in France continue their protests against new labour legislation. Last week, a three-day strike affected 70 calls at Le Havre,...

Limited Initial Impact From French Industrial Action

Transport workers Tuesday began industrial action across France that is expected to continue for several days, although the initial impact seems to have been limited. Trade unions have called on lorry drivers, railway workers, port and airport staff, seafarers, air traffic controllers, and oil refinery personnel to protest against new...

No VGM, no admittance at Port of Houston

Port of Houston will deny access to its terminals for containers that arrive without electronic documentation of their verified gross mass after a new International Maritime Organization container weight ruletakes effect on July 1. The port, which handles two-thirds of the container volume on the U.S. Gulf Coast, joined ports in Virginia and Savannah...

U.S. Coast Guard Declares an Equivalency to Regulation VI/2 of SOLAS

The U.S. Coast Guard has determined that existing U.S. laws and regulations for providing verified container weights are equivalent to the requirements in SOLAS Regulation VI/2. The Coast Guard sent to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) a letter outlining its determination that its current regulatory regime provides for other entities...

China issues guidelines to SOLAS container weight rule

China will conduct random inspections on export containers at the country’s ports from July 1 as part of its enforcement of new container-weighing requirements, according to long-awaited industry guidelines issued by the Ministry of Transport. In a consultation paper sent to all agencies of the Transport Ministry and translated by CargoSmart,...

Santos (Brazil) Slogs Through Backlog After Closure

Unexpected and unseasonably rough seas caused the closure of Santos, South America’s biggest port for containers, for more than 30 hours at the end of last week and Monday. Shippers and carriers suffered delays and some cargo had to be rolled over to later sailings, according to Sindamar, the Santos...