Terminal Operations: Long Beach, Saint John

Port of Long Beach Leads Way to Clear Backlog of Empty Containers Due to Hanjin Bankruptcy

The Port of Long Beach is helping to clear a backlog of empty cargo containers caused by the August 31 bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping through an agreement with terminal operator Total Terminals International (TTI). The arrangement with TTI will bring in a container ship to remove up to 4,300 empty containers and free up the chassis they sit on.

Long Beach and TTI have worked together to secure an empty vessel to reposition the containers, a solution that will help move empty containers back to Asia and bring significant relief to the inventory of chassis, according to Dr. Noel Hacegaba, PhD, PPM®, the port’s managing director of commercial operations and chief commercial officer. 

With the empty container ship due to arrive in Long Beach this week, "TTI has already begun accepting empty Hanjin containers from container-leasing companies, freeing up every chassis that drops off a container," said Dr. Hacegaba. "We expect that as many as 3,000 containers will literally be taken off the street and shipped back to Asia, with another 1,300 being removed from the port, putting thousands of chassis back to work."

TTI will load the ship at cost while the Port of Long Beach will waive its terminal access fee.  

"The Port of Long Beach and TTI have worked tirelessly over the past two months to find a solution to a complex and challenging situation that has impacted shippers from around the world," said Long Beach Harbor Commission President Lori Ann Guzmán. "We are grateful for the partnership between Long Beach and TTI."

Port Saint John Receives Two Post Panamax Gantry Cranes

Port Saint John took delivery October 29 of two post-Panamax-sized gantry cranes for use at the container terminal beginning January 2017.

The cranes represent private sector equipment investment on the part of DP World, the new terminal operator set to begin operations at Port Saint John in January.

Each crane has an out an outreach of 44.2 meters/145 feet, enough to service vessels of up to 6,500 TEU capacity. That contrasts with the 35-meter/115-foot outreach of the port’s older cranes, which are limited to vessels no larger than 3,500 TEUs.

DP World is working in partnership with Port Saint John, which, together with the governments of Canada and New Brunswick, has embarked on a $205 million infrastructure modernization program targeted for completion by 2021.

"We appreciate the investment that DP World is making that will both enhance our operational capabilities and support the West Side Modernization Project," said Port Saint John CEO Jim Quinn. "The cranes will significantly enhance container handling capacity in our port in the short term while we further grow container business and move forward with other aspects of the project."


Heavy lift ship Zhen Hua 14 carrying container cranes arriving at Port Saint John on October 29.
Photo/Port Saint John