NEWS - Ports & Transportation

By Ray Steele
SBJ Editor

May 24 - Ports officials from around the world will gather in Savannah in two weeks for the mid-term board meeting of the International Association of Ports and Harbors. “Economic Recovery in the Maritime Trade” will be the theme of the meeting June 7-9 at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront.

Susume Naruse, the IAPH Secretary General, says the board will hear from its technical committees on the first day of the conference. “The second day is devoted to the Port Forum, which is comprised of four sub sessions, “Transportation Forum: Trends and Economic Projections”, “Today's Trends for U.S. Export/Imports: What's on the Horizon?” “Protecting Maritime Trade” and “Greening the Supply Chain”.” Naruse says the third day will be devoted to regional board meetings and the regular IAPH board meeting, followed by a bus tour of the Garden City terminal.

You can register for the board meeting online at http://www.gaports.com/iaph/.

The IAPH visit coincides with news of continued traffic growth at the Savannah port. The Georgia Ports Authority announced last week that container traffic grew by double digits for the fifth consecutive month, with April volume up 25.6 percent from April 2009. “The volume increases experienced in most commodity groups signals a continued economic recovery in most global markets,” said GPA Executive Director Curtis Foltz. The GPA’s fiscal year-to-date (July 2009 through April 2010) volume to a 6-percent increase compared with the same time period last year. Export containers continued to lead the recovery, posting a 30.4-percent increase.

At the Port of Brunswick, the movement of auto and machinery units has also experienced growth for the past five months. Colonel’s Island Terminal moved 33,815 total units in April 2010, which is a 75.9-percent increase compared with April 2009.

The ports authority also recently announced an expansion of its Latin American business, as it is now receiving weekly shipments from Mediterranean Shipping Company’s West Coast South America operation. “Even during the recession, the GPA continued to add capacity and improve operations,” said GPA’s Chairman of the Board Stephen S. Green.

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