Hapag-Lloyd Pulls Out of Portland, Sinking Port’s Container Business

Hapag-Lloyd has confirmed that it has in reality terminated its service on the Port of Portland’s ‘Terminal 6’ container terminal, sinking almost all of what little remained of the port’s container enterprise following Hanjin’s exit final month.

Hapag-Lloyd formally notified the port on Tuesday that its vessels will not be calling at Portland after days of hypothesis and experiences that the service had been cancelled.

“In an effort to improve the schedule integrity of our Mediterranean Pacific Service (MPS), Hapag-Lloyd took the decision for a permanent omission of the port of Portland, Oregon effective at the end of March 2015,” Hapag-Lloyd mentioned in a press release. The final vessel to name on Portland was the MV Seaspan Dalian, which departed March 28, 2015, Hapag-Lloyd mentioned.

Hapag-Lloyd’s exit follows the termination of service in March by Hanjin Shipping, which represented 80 % of the container throughput at Terminal 6, following years of service disruptions that culminated with the current labor disputes between the ILWU dockworkers union and the Pacific Maritime Association. The departure of Hanjin left solely Hapag-Lloyd and Westwood Shipping because the remaining direct calling carriers. With Hapag-Lloyd gone, the terminal has misplaced almost all of its container enterprise – about 99 % in keeping with experiences.

A assertion Wednesday from ICTSI Oregon, Inc., operator of the Terminal 6 container terminal, mentioned that it was ‘very disappointed’ to listen to of Hapag-Lloyd’s determination to stop its direct service.

“Hapag-Lloyd has been very supportive and loyal to the Portland market. Coupled with Hanjin´s recent announcement to leave Portland and discontinue its Asia service, Hapag-Lloyd’s departure will adversely affect regional businesses that rely on Terminal 6,” the assertion mentioned.

Despite the sudden lack of enterprise, ICTSI Oregon says it stays dedicated to the area and attracting new enterprise to Terminal 6 will likely be its greatest precedence.

“Despite these challenges, ICTSI Oregon is committed to this region and will forge ahead to seek new direct container service to Asia and Europe. Retaining and attracting new carriers to Terminal 6 is our highest priority. We are reviewing all options and taking prompt action to generate new business.”

Sill, whether or not or not Terminal 6 will be capable to bounce again is unclear.

“However, attracting new business will be a challenging task,” ICTSI Oregon continued. “For Terminal 6 to be successful, the ILWU must signal to potential container shipping lines that its almost three-year campaign of work stoppages, slowdowns, and safety gimmicks at Terminal 6 has come to an end. While ICTSI Oregon will continue efforts to attract new customers, no carrier will want to make a long-term commitment to the terminal so long as ILWU workers delay cargo and vessels as a strong-arm tactic to get what they want. We hold the ILWU fully accountable for its actions; therefore, it is imperative that the ILWU leadership in San Francisco publicly commit that its efforts to interfere with productivity in Portland are over.”

The Port of Portland has a 25-year lease with ICTSI Oregon for the container terminal, which is the Columbia River’s solely deep-draft container terminal.

The withdrawal of Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd isn’t anticipated to impression the Port’s different marine enterprise traces reminiscent of autos, grain, minerals, metal, challenge cargo or liquid bulks.