PA, Philadelphia

Jul 27, 12:35 Philadelphia's shipyard strikes deal for 2 oil tankers Philadelphia's shipyard ...

seagull Jul 27, 12:35
Philadelphia's shipyard strikes deal for 2 oil tankers
Philadelphia's shipyard has reached a deal to build a pair of oil tankers, providing work at the site through 2014, Kansascity reports.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Aker Philadelphia Shipyard will build a pair of 115,000-ton tankers for Exxon Mobil Corp. to ferry crude from Alaska to the West Coast.

Neither Aker nor Exxon Mobile would discuss terms of the deal, but the chairman of the Philadelphia Shipyard Development Corp. put the value of each ship at more than $200 million.

Aker officials say the projects would require a total workforce of more than 1,000. Currently more than 400 work at the yard.

The shipyard is currently building a pair of 46,000-ton tankers but has no buyers. The state kicked in $42 million for that project to help keep the yard open.

businesstimes.com.sg

Jul 15, 19:02 Workers to lose hours at Philadelphia port Eighty to 90 longshoremen in Philade...

seagull Jul 15, 19:02
Workers to lose hours at Philadelphia port
Eighty to 90 longshoremen in Philadelphia will lose work hours due to Sea Star Line L.L.C.'s decision to suspend its service at Tioga Marine Terminal starting next Friday, Robert Palaima, president of the Delaware River Stevedores, said Thursday.

Longshoremen load and unload ships, and the loss of hours will vary depending on craft and seniority, Palaima said.

"It was a surprise to us. They told us Wednesday that it is a combination of insufficient volume and rising fuel costs that is causing them to suspend the service," said Robert Blackburn, senior deputy executive director of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.

The port authority estimates 77 International Longshoremen's Association jobs will be affected, along with more than 100 regional jobs for truckers, restaurateurs, and suppliers.

Sea Star said that if the economy improved, it might review the decision. Sea Star plans to transport cargo by truck and rail from Jacksonville, Fla.

Sea Star began service between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Philadelphia in March 2010. A San Juan ship comes once a week to Tioga loaded with mangoes, coffee, tomatoes, rum, and medicine and returns with toiletries, computers, groceries, cars, gasoline, and machinery.

Tioga Terminal will still have Rickmers-Linie, which comes three times a month, and Chilean fruit vessels that come two or three times a week in the winter.

"We anticipate a healthy season next season. We are actively pursuing some other opportunities that are proprietary at this point," said Blackburn.

In August, ILA workers lost 400,000 labor hours when Del Monte Fresh Produce Co. switched from Camden's Broadway Terminal to privately owned Gloucester Terminals L.L.C.

"Del Monte was 75 ships a year. Del Monte was palletized fruit, which is much more labor intensive than the container/trailer business that Sea Star represents. It's definitely a blow, but not as big a blow," Blackburn said.

businesstimes.com.sg

Feb 9 '11, 10:10 Philadelphia port posts 17% rise in 2010 cargo throughput The US port of Philad...

seagull Feb 9 '11, 10:10
Philadelphia port posts 17% rise in 2010 cargo throughput
The US port of Philadelphia has posted a 17% increase on its total cargo throughput for 2010, attributed to the "recovering national economy and a variety of new business relationships."

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) said it handled a total of 3.64 million metric tonnes (mt) of cargo last year against 3.11 million mt in 2009, Portworld reports.

Its containerised cargo was up 18% to 264,059 TEUs from 222,900 TEUs handled the previous year, the authority said.

Non-containerised cargoes, meanwhile, rose to 1,108,329 mt against 840,876 mt handled in 2009, up 32%.

"We went out and and aggressively sought new business, even if many believed it unlikely," said PRPA Executive Director James T. McDermott, Jr.

The authority particularly cited that automobile manufacturers Hyundai and Kia made Philadelphia its preferred US East Coast port of entry last year.

"Automobiles have been arriving at PRPA's Packer Avenue Marine Terminal since spring of 2010, automobile business here went from being virtually non-existent in 2009 to about 69,000 units being moved in 2010," said PRPA.

Further, shipping agent Sea Star Line has established a major Puerto Rican service at the port while Scandinavian paper manufacturer M-real returned to the port bringing along its ocean carrier, Wagenborg Shipping.

Additionally, its MSC European service which commenced in 2009, "matured in 2010, significantly increasing activity at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.”

"Principally, we got our 45-foot channel deepening project finally moving forward, and we made major strides in turning our Southport marine terminal project from a dream to a reality," McDermott said.

"Both of those initiatives signaled to the world that we seriously mean business, and directly or indirectly helped our cargo increases last year."

The PRPA is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania tasked with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning in the port district.

businesstimes.com.sg

Nov 3 '10, 11:01 Philadelphia port authority awards contract to build new container terminal T...

seagull Nov 3 '10, 11:01
Philadelphia port authority awards contract to build new container terminal

The Philadelphia regional port authority has authorised its partners Hyundai Merchant Marine Shipping Agency Inc and the Delaware River Stevedoring entity to build and operate a new container terminal in Philadelphia. The lease for the new Southport container terminal will run for 50 years. Delaware River Stevedoring is a subsidiary of SSA Marine and of the Ports America group. Construction is expected to commence in three years, when the deepening of the Delaware River to 45 ft is expected to be completed.

Source: transportjournal.com

Aug 30 '10, 10:18 Horizon Shipbuilding wins $8.6 million towboat order Horizon Shipbuilding, In...

seagull Aug 30 '10, 10:18
Horizon Shipbuilding wins $8.6 million towboat order

Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc., Bayou La Batre, Ala., has been awarded a $8,619,510 firm-fixed-price contract to acquire a welded steel hulled commercial standard inland river tow boat for the Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, Memphis District, for towing services for Memphis, Little Rock, and Vicksburg districts. Work is to be performed at Bayou La Batre, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Feb. 20, 2012. Eighteen bids were solicited with eight received. US Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity (W912BU-10-C-0031; Serial No. 1766).

Source: marinelog.com

Aug 9 '10, 9:47 Philadelphia Regional Port Authority Welcomes First Hyundai/Kia Vessel to the Po...

seagull Aug 9 '10, 9:47
Philadelphia Regional Port Authority Welcomes First Hyundai/Kia Vessel to the Port of Philadelphia

(PHILADELPHIA) - In what promises to be a busy month of August at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal (PAMT), Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PRPA) Chairman John H. Estey hailed the arrival of the first of seven vessels scheduled to arrive this month, together expected to deliver more than 17,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles to the Port of Philadelphia.
The first vessel, named the "Hyundai 230", arrived late Monday, August 2, at the South Philadelphia terminal, carrying 1,811 vehicles from two ports in South Korea. At 8:00 a.m. today, ILA work crews began unloading the vehicles from the vessel and transporting them to the adjacent auto finishing facility at Pier 98 Annex at Columbus Boulevard and Oregon Avenue, by the Walt Whitman Bridge. Teamster labor will handle the vehicles once they arrive at Pier 98 Annex. Once processed at Pier 98 Annex, the vehicles will leave the facility by truck and possibly rail for delivery to Hyundai and Kia dealerships throughout the United States.
Today's delivery is the culmination of more than a year's work in bringing this business to the Port of Philadelphia. Ultimately this business is expected to create 276 full-time job equivalencies locally, and 415 jobs throughout the region. As many as 100 new vessels a year will result from this business.
In April, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell announced that the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and Holt Logistics Corporation had reached an agreement with Hyundai Motor Co. and its logistics affiliate, Glovis of America, to import and process 150,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles annually through Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. Holt Logistics Corp. has a long-term lease with PRPA to operate the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal.
Philly Ro-Ro Partners will operate PRPA's 85-acre automobile processing facility at Pier 98 Annex. PRPA will make up to $1 million in capital improvements to the facility, and Philly Ro-Ro Partners will contribute $3.7 million in improvements, turning a well-equipped automobile-handling center into one that is state-of-the-art. Many of these improvements have already been made to ready the facilities for the initial vessel calls.
"This much-anticipated relationship brings substantial new business to the Port of Philadelphia," Chairman Estey said, in response to news of the arrival of the first vessel today. "We have many people to thank for their hard work and commitment, including Governor Rendell, Glovis, Philly Ro-Ro, Holt Logistics, the staff of the PRPA, and the dedicated men and women in our labor community."