OCTOBER 24, 2012 — There looks to be some positive progress in talks aimed at resolving a labor dispute that could close 14 ports on the U.S.East and Gulf coasts. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director George H. Cohen issued a statement today on negotiations between the United States Maritime Alliance and International Longshoremen's Association. Read more at www.marinelog.com...

The U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) has said in a statement today that negotiations between a port employers' organisation and a union representing longshoremen on the U.S. East and Gulf coasts have been extended by 90 days, averting a potential strike. After a day of negotiations between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance that were described as "productive" having made progress on "several important subjects," the parties agreed to extend the collective bargaining agreement due to expire on September 30, 2012 through December 29, 2012.

As part of the agency’s ongoing initiatives to be a good steward of the environment, the Port Authority Board of Commissioners on August 1, 2012 approved an incentive program for ocean vessels that call on the Port of New York and New Jersey. The three year, $4.875 million Ocean-Going Vessel Clean-Vessel Incentive (CVI) program aims to encourage ship operators to improve their engines, use cleaner fuels, and upgrade their technology to reduce emissions from ocean-going vessels, which are the largest source of air pollutants at port-related facilities. The Port Authority anticipates approximately 600 vessels a year will participate in the CVI program, which will provide annual emission reductions of 182.2 tons of nitrogen oxide, 38.3 tons of particulate matter, and 264.1 tons of sulfur dioxides. Source: www.panynj.gov/pr...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says New York City's cruise industry generated $239 million last year, setting a new record. The mayor's office says more than 632,000 passengers and crew members spent nearly $150 million in the city while boarding a cruise ship or making a stop here during a voyage. Embarking passengers spent the most at more than $120 million, with about half of that spent on hotel accommodations. www.lohud.com/usa...

The Coast Guard on Wednesday reminded the operators of ships 65 feet or longer that the vessels can go no faster than 10 knots when entering New York Harbor off Sandy Hook or the Delaware Bay as part of the federal effort to protect North Atlantic right whales. The service announced that the Right Whale Ship Strike Reduction Rule is in effect until April to protect endangered right whales in mid-Atlantic waters where they are known to migrate. As the federal government's primary maritime enforcement agency, the Coast Guard is working closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with a shared goal of conserving and rehabilitating the critically endangered whale’s population, which stands at approximately 300 worldwide. Collisions with ships and interaction with fishing gear are a major cause of mortality and injury to the whales. www.newjerseynews...

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2012 plans to spend $345.9 million on seaport projects, JOC reports. The agency allocates the largest amount of spending, $87.4 million, on development of the Global Terminal on the Port Jersey Peninsula in Bayonne and Jersey City. The money will also be used to improve intermodal rail and roads to 98-acre terminal. More to read at www.joc.com/ports...

New York City is rebuilding a Brooklyn marine terminal that will handle roll-on, roll-off and breakbulk cargo when it opens in 2012, the Journal of Commerce reported. The New York City Economic Development Corporation is investing more than $115 million to reopen the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal at the 30th Street pier, Daniel A. Zarrili, the NYEDC’s senior vice president of asset management, told a maritime industry gathering Tuesday. The 88-acre terminal, which is along the Bay Ridge Channel in Sunset Park, has been used as police tow pound since the 1980s. The investment includes terminal infrastructure improvements, site preparation and dredging, as well as an additional $13 million to extend rail infrastructure to the terminal and connect it with the Southern Gateway, one of New York City’s principle connections to the national rail network. The industrial park at the reopened South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will include a facility for processing of autos for both import and export. It will also include a recycling facility on 11 acres in the industrial park, Zarilli told the Port Industry Day gathering at the old Central Railroad of Jersey City terminal.

Norwegian Cruise Line’s new 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway will make New York City its year-round home port starting in May 2013. The Breakaway -- which will be the largest ship ever to homeport in the city -- will replace Norwegian Star and embark on a minimum of 88 cruises from the Manhattan Cruise Terminal through March 31, 2015. The ship will offer cruises to Bermuda. The move will bring about 140,000 additional embarking passengers into New York City over two years, resulting in an estimated $35 million in additional direct spending.

Hurricane Irene, a Category 3 storm packing winds of 115 miles per hour, has swirled past the Bahamas and is now honing in on North Carolina. Nassau was spared a direct hit early Thursday as the storm passed well east of the popular cruise port. Hurricane warnings and watches are now in place from North Carolina to New Jersey, and weekend cruise departures from Northeast ports like New York may be delayed. All told, dangerous weather conditions have forced lines to alter itineraries for nearly 25 cruise ships in the Eastern Caribbean and Bahamas, and vessels in Bermuda are racing back to their Northeast homeports early in order to beat the storm. The National Hurricane Center's 11 p.m. EDT advisory places Irene some 490 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Some additional strengthening is possible Thursday night and Friday. Large listing with cruiseship delays: www.cruisecritic....

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Friday approved raising bridge and tunnel tolls that will mean an extra $50 per five-axle truck for E-Z Pass users and even more for cash customers. Starting next month, tolls for trucks using E-Z Pass payment tags will rise $2 per axle in September, or $10 for a five-axle vehicle. Tolls will rise an additional $2 per axle each December between 2012 and 2015, resulting in a total increase of $50 per five-axle truck over five years.