California Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell will host a joint hearing with the State Senate on Wednesday, Nov. 3 to discuss bottleneck issues at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach along the supply chain and look for ways to address them. The 70th Assembly District representative, who also serves as chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Ports and Goods Movement, is inviting constituents and stakeholders to tune in to watch the hearing live at 9:30 a.m. via https://www.assembly.ca.gov/todaysevents. “The Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles play a major role in the global supply chain and are crucial to…

The Port of Seattle’s 2021 cruise season closes on Saturday when Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore will leave from Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66. After the COVID-19 pandemic stopped cruise traveling for many last year, the port deemed this year’s season a success, thanks in part to safety procedures and best practices at port facilities that were put in place. There were 82 cruise ship calls and about 229,000 paying passengers between July 19 and October 23, according to port data. The port said that it anticipates the 2022 cruise season - which is expected to begin…

The Port of Los Angeles last month shattered its busiest September record when it handled 903,865 TEUs, according to new numbers released by the port Wednesday. Last month, Los Angeles moved 468,059 TEUs in imports, amounting to the same number of TEUs as those in September 2020. Meanwhile, the port handled its lowest number of exports in 19 years, moving 75,714 TEUs last month. It was 42% fewer exports compared to September 2020, according to port data. Also, Asia’s demand for empty containers continues, port statistics show. Last month, the number of empty containers exported rose 28% year-over-year to 360,092…

Port of Vancouver CEO Julianna Marler has been named to the Board of Directors for the American Association of Port Authorities, along with four other port heads from around the country. Marler, who was appointed Vancouver USA’s CEO in January 2017 after serving as the port’s Chief Financial Administrative Officer, is the first female CEO in the port’s 105-year history. Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero, who serves as chairman of the board, announced the newly elected board members during the AAPA’s 110th annual convention, which took place Sept. 26-29 in Austin, Texas. The seaport leaders are all…

Honolulu-based Matson Inc. estimates its third quarter operating income to be $358 million to $363 million for ocean transportation and $15 million to $16 million for logistics, according to the company’s initial earnings report. Matson’s net income and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter are projected at $277.3 million to $285.5 million and $6.39 to $6.58, respectively. “The strong economic and business trends we saw in the second quarter continued in the third quarter resulting in solid performance in both Ocean Transportation and Logistics,” company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Matt Cox said. In the ocean transportation sector,…

The Port of Long Beach saw its second-busiest September ever last month, moving 748,472 TEUs, according to new numbers released by the port. This is a 5.9% decrease from September 2020, the record holder for the busiest September in port history. Last month, the port processed 8.7% less imported cargo than September 2020 with 370,230 TEUs, and handled 1.6% fewer exports with 110,787 TEUs and 3.6% fewer empty containers with 267,456 TEUs. “We are having capacity issues due to the unprecedented number of containers waiting to move off the terminals, while warehouses have little to no room to accommodate this…

The amount of time a container sat at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach last month have reached “a new average high” of nearly six days, according to new data released by the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. The averaged high of 5.94 days set last month is the highest since the association started tracking dwell time in May 2016, PMSA said. Before the pandemic-related volume increases, average dwell time for containers usually stayed below three days, shipping association data show. The average dwell time for rail however, was better, improving from 8.2 days in August to 5.5 days…

U.S. Coast Guard officials have designated MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, S.A. and Dordellas Finance Corporation as “parties in interest” in their investigation into the pipeline fracture that leaked thousands of crude into Orange County waters. USCG and National Transportation Safety Board officials on Saturday boarded the MSC Danit in the Port of Long Beach, where USCG Los Angeles-Long Beach Sector Chief of Investigations Lt. Cmdr. Braden Rostad determined that the container vessel was part of an anchor-dragging incident that occurred in heavy weather on Jan. 25. The incident happened near a subsea pipeline, the source of the Oct. 2 oil spill,…

The Port of Seattle is asking the public to weigh in on its annual spending plan with an eye toward investing more in projects that “strengthen trade, improve customer experience, and create thousands of new job opportunities.” This month, the port began a series of budget workshops to garner that feedback. The current budget proposal seeks to raise the port’s capital improvement plan from $3.7 billion in 2021-2025 to $4.4 billion in 2022-2026. “Community input has been part of this budget development from the very beginning,” Port of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins said. “As a community, we face an incomplete…

San Diego-based Training Resources Maritime Institute and Orange Coast College’s Waterfront Campus will team up to provide professional mariner training at the new OCC Professional Mariner Training Center in Newport Beach, it was announced Thursday. Beginning this January, TRLMI will lend its curriculum and certified instructors to teach various courses at the new training center, which opened in September. “OCC has built a first class facility for mariners in Orange County, and we are thrilled to help them deliver an expanded range of USCG certified courses to support the local maritime community,” TRLMI CEO Dave Abrams said. (Full disclosure: Dave…