Container shipping line APL is building an intermodal container terminal in Joliet, Ill., to strengthen its transcontinental network in the United States, the Journal of Commerce reported. APL purchased 43 acres within the CenterPoint Intermodal Center, an inland port developed by CenterPoint Properties on the former site of the Joliet Arsenal. The company expects to open the terminal in December. The yard will function as APL’s Chicago Global Gateway, the company said, eventually replacing the shipping line’s container terminal in Chicago.

Gangavaram Port Ltd, which operates the country's deepest draft port located in Visakhapatnam, expects to achieve financial closure for its INR 1,200 crore capacity expansion project by August end this year, SteelGuru reports. The expansion plan involves construction of four berths one exclusively for coal and three multi purpose berths to enhance its cargo handling capacity from the current 25 million tonnes to 45 million tonnes. Last fiscal, the port handled about 14 million tonnes of cargo, with the target for the current fiscal being between 16 million tonnes and 17 million tonnes.

Persistent delays in clearing goods at Cameroon’s main port of Douala have brought stakeholders together into the city to seek solutions. Director-General of Customs Ms Minette Libom Li Likeng presented the results of a study reportedly done between 2007 and 2011 before the gathering of economic players from all over the country and representatives of the clearing and forwarding and stevedoring and warehousing sectors. According to the study, the time spent from the arrival of goods in the Douala port to their being taken out of the port was 19.5 days while the time spent on the registering of the manifest to the registering of the declaration took another 13.6 days. Read more at www.africareview....

Sierra Leone's Vice President Sam Sumana on Friday slammed the theft of 366 cartons of medical supplies from the country's port Freetown, meant for a free healthcare system for women and young children. The cartons, each containing around 750 smaller boxes, were stolen from two of 45 containers which have been held up at the port for months as an investigation is launched into drugs which have gone missing since last year. "I am terribly disappointed that people can behave in this way," Sumana told reporters.

The report on ‘Gateways to India- India Ports’ says that Mundra is likely to become India’s largest port by FY14. Backed by strong demand, Mundra is adding significant capacity in terms of coal terminals, bulk terminals and increased container capacity. More at www.moneycontrol....

Port Klang and Port of Tanjung Pelepas have maintained their top 20 ranking. In a statement today, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd said Port Klang moved up one rung from 14th to 13th spot with 8.87 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) with Westports contributing 5.57 million TEUs. It said PTP moved up a rung from 17th to 16th place with 6.54 million TEUs. Westports said global container throughput hit a record 560 million TEUs in 2010, a growth of 14.5 per cent compared with the previous year. It said according to estimates by axs-alphaliner.com -- the worldwide reference in liner shipping -- the Chinese ports led the growth, followed by South American ports which grew by 17.6 per cent.

Oiltanking Odfjell Terminals has significantly ramped up its storage capacity at the Port of Sohar, further underscoring its ambition to emerge as the premier bulk liquids storage and handling hub in the region. The joint venture, which is backed by two of the world’s biggest players in independent liquids storage and chemicals transportation, has announced the commissioning of 450,000 cubic metres of new capacity for the storage of clean petroleum products at the terminal. The increase will boost the terminal‘s overall storage capacity to a world-scale 1.3 million cubic metres. main.omanobserver...

A Chinese navy fleet comprising a frigate, destroyer and a supply ship was on Saturday dispatched to the Gulf of Aden on an escort mission, Xinhua reported. The ships left the Zhanjiang port in southern China's Guangdong province Saturday, the transport ministry said. The fleet will replace a flotilla sent earlier to guard against pirates, the ministry said on its website. The fleet, equipped with two helicopters, is carrying about 870 seamen and officers onboard. The destroyer Wuhan and frigate Yulin will arrive in the waters off Somalia after they participate in an international defence expo in Brunei.

Despite the crowded docks, the Port of Seattle expects to see about 62,350 fewer cruise goers this year than in 2010 — a $53 million drop in income for the city, according to the Port. For each Seattle-based voyage, the city brings in $1.9 million as passengers eat, shop and rent hotel rooms, and vessels stock up on supplies and pay for services such as unloading and trash disposal, according to an outside assessment commissioned by the Port. Last year a record 223 cruises took off from Seattle. This year's drop to 195 planned departures is partly due to Princess Cruises and the Holland America Line each moving one ship to Europe. The Port of Seattle is in regular contact with the cruise executives and is hopeful they'll return to the Alaska route, spokesman Peter McGraw said.

June 22 was the busiest day of the year in the Port of Helsinki at least as far as cruise ships were concerned, with a total of six cruise ships visiting. West Harbour, on that day hosted Oceania Cruises’ MARINA, Holland-America Line’s ROTTERDAM, Costa Cruises’ COSTA LUMINOSA, Tallink’s BALTIC PRINCESS, SUPERSTAR and STAR, as well as Eckerö Line’s NORDLANDIA.