More dockworkers have joined the protests at Hong Kong port as the latest round of pay talk ended without progress. Strikers from one of the contractors of Hongkong International Terminals (HIT), Comcheung Human Resources, walked out of the Kwai Tsing container terminals yesterday. A few fours later, Comcheung posted a notice about details of the pay rise and noted the increment will be effective from July. There would be a 15% rise for the first sub-shift (10 hours), and 6.5% rise for another two shifts (6.5 hours each). However, the workers are still not satisfied with the offer, Ng Koon-hin, a representative of Comcheung workers, said. [03/05/13]

As manufacturing continues to increase in major Asian markets, a local metals shipper announced that it is--for the first time in 40 years--exporting iron ore from the Port of Long Beach. The new business was developed over several years by SA Recycling, a longtime exporter of scrap metal that has operated a break bulk terminal at Pier T for more than 15 years. While iron ore exports are continuing to decrease in countries like Australia and India where over-supply and increased tarifs have negatively affected a once-bustling industry, the material--which is a core ingredient in steel--is considered a rising star in the U.S. economy with exports to Europe increasing steadily over the last few years. The price of ore has in recent years risen to prices nearing $140 per metric ton and SA says the decision to begin exporting it from Long Beach was an easy one. Read more at www.hellenicshipp...

Horizon Terminals Limited (HTL), the terminals business and wholly owned subsidiary of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), announced that its new oil terminal in Jebel Ali, with a storage capacity of over 141,000 cubic metres, is on schedule for expected completion by end-2013. The project, undertaken by HTL, also features a 60 kilometre 16" jet fuel pipeline that links the terminal directly to the Dubai International Airport, and other advanced facilities.

In the Bangladesh port city of Chittagong, activists want the EU to get tough on the booming ship recycling industry that has become notorious for its poor labour and environmental safety records. New EU legislation is already in the making and could be finalised in June. Negotiators from the European Parliament, Commission and Council are due to meet on Tuesday (7 May) in the first round of talks aimed at hammering out a regulation on the scrapping of old ships – many of which end up in South Asia for dismantling and recycling. The Bangladesh industry has long been the target of labour rights campaigners and environmental lawyers. Today, business is booming, buoyed by a surplus of ocean-going vessels and home-grown demand for raw materials. “At the rate ship breaking is going on in the ship-breaking yards, those workers are working like machines, they are dying every day and there are massive explosions, accidents and injuries,” said Muhammad Ali Shahin, the Bangladesh coordinator for the Shipbreaking Platform, a Brussels-based campaign group. Read more at www.euractiv.com/...

A new container shipping route between Qinzhou port in Guangxi and Kaohsiung in Taiwan has been opened and is the first direct container shipping route between Guangxi and Taiwan. The route is co-operated by Wagon Group in Taiwan and Qinzhou Guiqin Shipping Group and it will be operated once a week, shortening the shipping time between the two ports from 7 days to 3.5 days. “The route will definitely increase the container throughput of Qinzhou port and it will also facilitate trade activities between Guangxi and Taiwan,” said Zhen Guoliang, general manager of Guiqin Shipping Group. [02/05/13]

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) raises toll fees by 5% for oil tankers & petrochemical products, 2% for container ships & car carriers effective 1, May 2013. News of the latest rise in tolls follows last year's SCA increase of a 3% rise for all ships passing through the canal. Suez Canal revenues have become more important because the country’s foreign currency reserves have shrunk from $36bn since the eve of the 25 January Revolution to $13.5bn, reports the 'Daily News, Egypt'. Egypt received $398.5m in revenues from the Suez Canal in March 2013, according to a recent statement made by the SCA. Source: Daily News, Egypt

When the 1,000-foot freighter Edgar B. Speer departed Two Harbors earlier this week for a steel mill in Gary, Ind., it left with a load of 60,000 tons of taconite. That might sound like a lot of iron ore, but it’s 10,000 tons less than a full load. And that’s the problem that shipping industry and port officials are calling the Great Lakes “dredging crisis.” That much taconite left behind amounts to one entire shift at a large Minnesota taconite plant — enough ore to make 6,700 tons of steel and thousands of automobiles — all because one segment in the Great Lakes shipping system was clogged, said Gregg Ruhl, director of the Duluth-based Great Lakes Fleet that owns and operates the Speer. While the harbor at Two Harbors is plenty deep, more than the 28 feet needed for Great Lakes freighters at full capacity, there’s a portion of the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie that has filled in with sediment to less than 26 feet deep. To get through that section, ships passing through must be light enough to clear the bottom. “As a result, we had to leave 10,000 tons of taconite on the dock in Two Harbors,” Ruhl said. Read more at www.duluthnewstri...

Three operators are preparing to go head to head in a bid to operate Melbourne’s new car terminal The Port of Melbourne has announced that Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH), Wallenius Wilhelmson Logistics (WWL) and Australian Amalgamated Terminals (AAT) have all been shortlisted as bidders to operate the new car terminal at Webb Dock. This follows the three companies being shortlisted by the port following the expression of interest phase. The port says that all three have accepted the invitation to compete in the next stage of the bidding war.

The foul weather season has been declared from 25 May to 31 August. During this period, the anchorage area of the [Mumbai] inner harbour is restricted to a line which is normally north of the Sunk Rock Light House position. Hence the number of anchorages that can be utilised would be restricted due to non-availability of anchorages south of this line, GAC informs. Mumbai Port Trust will try and accommodate as many vessels as possible but may have to deny anchorage facilities due to non-availability of anchorage berths. The cargo working anchorage berths will be allotted on a first-come-first-serve basis, while other anchorages will be allotted for short periods only for those vessels also on a first-come-first-serve basis, which have specific work at Mumbai.

International Labor Day (1 May) is a public holiday in Russia, the first of five days of holidays in the country from 1 to 5 May, inclusive. 6-8 May will be normal working says. Further, Russia Victory Day is celebrated from 9-12 May. Nomral work will resume on 13 May.