Port conditions as a result of Hurricane Isaac:

The California Transportation Commission committed $242 million in voter-approved Proposition 1B bond funding to redevelop the former Oakland Army Base into a trade and logistics center for the Port of Oakland, port officials said. The U.S. Department of Transportation had already committed $15 million in federal TIGER grant funding for the project, and the Oakland City Council voted June 19 to approve development agreements with Prologis and California Capital Investment Group for the city's portion of the 360-acres of former Oakland Army Base that it shares with the Port of Oakland.

The International Longshoremen's Association said it's "discouraged" by the "take it or leave it" approach by the U.S. Maritime Alliance that it said resulted in the "abrupt" end of negotiations Aug. 22, but the union is "energized" by support from other unions. (For a summary of the USMX statement on the end of talks, see ITT's Online Archives 12082301).

The volume of containers passing through world ports has grown from 279.3 million TEU in 2002 to 588.8 million TEU in 2011, according to the “Global Container Terminal Operators Annual Review & Forecast 2012” issued by Drewry Maritime Research. During that period, Chinese ports' share of container volume has grown from 19% to 30%, it said, and the largest container ship has grown from 7,000 TEU to 15,000.

Many importers and exporters are developing contingency plans for what is looking like a more-likely strike of longshoremen at East Coast ports, following the breakdown of talks between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Exchange, said freight information company A.N. Deringer. The ILA has not commented on the talks (See ITT's Online Archives 12082301).

The port of Rotterdam will receive EUR 5 million from the European Union program for the Trans-European Transport Network, it said. The money is for a rail terminal and inland shipping cranes at the new container terminals. The Netherlands also received funding for the planned sea lock in the Ghent-Terneuzen canal, it said.

The Port of Miami and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed the construction agreement that will allow the Deep Dredge project to go out for bid, the port said. "The project agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the final step prior to advertising for the construction contract," said port director Bill Johnson. "We are on schedule to complete the Deep Dredge at the same time the expanded Panama Canal opens." The Deep Dredge will deepen the port's existing channels to minus 50/52 feet to prepare for the Panama Canal expansion, now scheduled for completion in early 2015.

The talks between the International Longshoremen's Association and the U.S. Maritime Alliance broke down after three days, the USMX said. The current contract expires Sept. 30. ILA officials didn't immediately comment.

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners awarded $5.4 million in grants to nonprofit groups, agencies and port tenants to fund 28 projects that will reduce, avoid or capture emissions of greenhouse gases, the port said. The projects include solar-powered hot water and electricity systems, energy-efficient outdoor lighting, electric vehicles, tree planting and water-saving landscaping. Of the money, $5 million came from the Middle Harbor redevelopment project and $400,000 from the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project.

Members of the International Longshoremen's Association protested Aug. 20 outside the U.S. Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., about the loss of union work handling military cargo at the Port of Charleston, S.C. Others have continued picketing at the Port of Charleston, the union said. The concern is that the U.S. Marines are allowing Portus Stevedoring Co. to move its military cargo operation from Jacksonville, Fla., to Charleston, bypassing the use of ILA workers in Charleston. The ILA said Portus intends to use members of the International Union of Operating Engineers and perhaps even non-union workers to work the vessel Lewis and Clark at Joint Base Charleston beginning Aug. 27.