The World Trade Center Miami welcomes you to SeaCargo Americas News, offering you updates from the industry and useful information on the fourth year of the SeaCargo Americas Conference and Exhibition. 

SEACARGO AMERICAS NEWSLETTER
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NEWS IN THE AMERICAS

• New $80 Million Container Terminal To Bypass Downtown Nassau
• Port of Miami Now Monitored by Radar Video Surveillance System
• Grand Alliance to Expand Service through Kingston
• Seaboard Marine Initiates Colombia Service from New York
• Low Panama Canal Bid Goes to Spanish-Italian Team
• Jamaica Sees Trade Benefits From Cuba Opening
• Senate Panel Votes End to Cuban Farm Export Limitations
• China Supplanting the U.S. in Latin America
• Furniture Companies Have High Profile on Import List

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SAVE THE DATE……November 4-6, 2009

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The Port of Miami will again host SeaCargo Americas. The port, under the leadership of Bill Johnson, has supported the event since its inception. Johnson believes that the event will increase two-way cargo growth for the Americas by providing a world class forum on international maritime and logistics issues and showcasing the latest maritime and security products, e commerce solutions, technologies and services.

NEWS IN THE AMERICAS

New $80 Million Container Terminal To Bypass Downtown Nassau
The government of the Bahamas has decided to support moving the Nassau container terminal from downtown to nearby Arawak Cay in an $80 million deal funded by a consortium of 19 companies including Tropical Shipping. Minister of the Environment, Dr. Earl Deveaux, said that the only thing holding up the move by the Arawak Cay Port Development Company (ACPDC) is the dredging of Nassau Harbour, which is scheduled to be completed in November.

Deveaux said: "The last information that I had is that (ACPDC) had raised $30 million in private money, and were seeking to secure a loan (for the rest).”The actual structure proposed is that the port group will form a company, the government will own 40 percent initially, (ACPDC) will own 40 percent and the remaining 20 percent will be sold at an appropriate time to the public. The government will have equity that will be based on the land that the government will put in, but the government will not put any money in the company."

The ACPDC is a group that is comprised of 19 Bahamian companies that include Betty K, Abaco Shipping, Mosko Construction, Arawak Stevedoring, the Mailboat Company and Tropical Shipping. http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national_local/306603898258306.php

Port of Miami Now Monitored by Radar Video Surveillance System
Security systems manufacturer Honeywell announced recently that it has completed the installation of a waterside security radar system at the Port of Miami.

The port, which is one of the busiest seaports in the U.S., will use the Radar Video Surveillance (RVS) system to monitor ship traffic. According to a statement issued by the company, the waterside radar is integrated with an Automatic Identification System (AIS), allowing authorities to quickly respond to any potential threats.

“Maritime security is one of the most scrutinized homeland security issues today, and effectively securing a seaport is an extremely challenging task due to the sheer size of the area,” said Jeremy Howard, Honeywell’s global account manager for critical infrastructure protection. “By collaborating with an integrator such as Adesta, Honeywell has provided a solution that quickly delivers critical information that security personnel at the Port of Miami need to make an informed decision when responding to a threat.” http://www.securityinfowatch.com/root+level/1312184

Grand Alliance to Expand Service through Kingston
The Grand Alliance will expand its service through the Kingston Container Terminal (KCT) with the addition of a westbound route beginning at the end of this month. The service began its eastbound route through the Caribbean calling at KCT's trans-shipment hub on May 23, after the Port Authority of Jamaica secured the service. The Grand Alliance is comprised of Zim Israeli Consolidated Shipping, the Orient Overseas Container Line of China, the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line of Japan, and the German line, Hapag-Lloyd. The service is made up of eight vessels, three of which are provided by Zim and five by the other lines. The new service calls at Kingston on a weekly basis on Saturdays and continues its service from KCT the following Sunday.

This new scheduling of calls to Kingston by the Grand Alliance is a result of the ongoing efforts of the Port Authority to attract new services to help mitigate the downturn in calls to the KCT and boost its volumes, which, as in the case of other ports worldwide, has been affected by the international economic recession.

Seaboard Marine Initiates Colombia Service from New York
Seaboard Marine is pleased to announce expansion of its Colombia service to include port calls at Brooklyn, New York. The first sailing, the M/V Westerkade V. 33, will depart from Brooklyn on Monday, July 20th. Seaboard will offer weekly, fixed-day, sailings arriving in Cartagena on Tuesdays (8 days transit).   The itinerary will be: New York, USA to/from Colombia (Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta); with connecting service to/from Venezuela (Guanta, Guaranao, Isla Margarita, La Guaira and Puerto Cabello); as well as connections to/from Trinidad, Barbados, Suriname, and Guyana.  http://seaboardmarine.com/sml/

Low Panama Canal Bid Goes to Spanish-Italian Team
The administration of the Panama Canal has selected a construction consortium led by Spain's Sacyr Vallehermoso and Italy's Impregilo to build new larger locks for the hemispheric highway. The bid significantly undercut its rivals with a $3.12 billion bid to build the new locks that will double the canal's capacity and accommodate a new generation of super-size container ships.

The bid was well under the canal authority's target price of $3.48 billion and appeared to meet technical requirements. A technical board will verify the canal authority's assessment before the deal is confirmed. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/11/panama-canal-shipping-expansion

Jamaica Sees Trade Benefits From Cuba Opening
Jamaica stands to benefit from the ripple effects of increased trade in the Caribbean region, Fritz Pinnock, executive director of the Caribbean Maritime Institute said. Pinnock predicts that opening of free trade between Cuba and the Unites States (US) could open opportunities for Jamaica based on its close proximity to Cuba. Additionally, Pinnock said the expansion of the Panama Canal and the expected increased traffic along the Asia/US East Coast should provide additional opportunities. He added that the Panama Canal studies predict that the 8,000-9,000 TEU vessels that use the waterway will not be able to reach US East Coast ports due to the infrastructure restrictions of the latter. "Jamaica must be ready to capitalize on this opportunity," Pinnock stressed.

Pinnock further pointed out that the changing global traffic patterns in East-West trade routes pose a threat to the sustainability of a trans-shipment port. This, he said, is based on the fact that for every nine containers that come from the East, four remain empty while the others return with cargo. http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090714/shipping/shipping1.html

Senate Panel Votes End to Cuban Farm Export Limitations
On a voice vote, the US Senate Appropriations Committee approved an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 Financial Services spending bill that would overturn the Bush administration's definition of payment of cash-in-advance with respect to Cuban purchases of U.S. farm products. Senator Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., offered the amendment. "It was never in my judgment a justification for reinterpreting the law that had been administered for six years that cash in advance meant when you delivered the goods," Dorgan said. "They changed it so that it was before you shipped the goods. There was never justification for that."

Dorgan assured the panel that his amendment has everything to do with helping American farmers and nothing to do with propping up the regime of Cuba's President Raul Castro. http://www.farmfutures.com

China Supplanting the U.S. in Latin America
China has supplanted the United States to become the biggest trading partner with Brazil, South America's biggest economy, by moving aggressively to fill a vacuum left by the United States in recent years, as the U.S. focused on wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the global economic crisis sapped its economy.

"China is rising while the U.S. is declining in Latin America," Riordan Roett, a professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University, said by telephone while visiting Sao Paulo. "China is all over this region. They are following a state-driven policy to expand their peaceful presence."

China is beefing up its embassies throughout Latin America, opening Confucian centers to expand Chinese culture, sending high-level trade delegations throughout the region and opening the door for ordinary Chinese to visit Machu Picchu, Rio and other tourism hot spots.

Trade between Latin America and China rocketed from $10 billion in 2000 to $140 billion in 2008. China is buying zinc from Peru, copper from Chile and iron ore from Brazil. It's shipping electronic equipment to Brazil, buses to Cuba, clothes to Mexico and cars to Peru.

Peruvian President Alan Garcia is trying to position his country as a major commercial hub for China in South America.

Two Chinese companies are moving forward with major mining projects in Peru while companies from other countries are suspending or canceling theirs, said John Youle, the executive president of Consult Andes, a Lima-based firm.

Ecuador is borrowing $1 billion from China to finance investments by its state oil company and another $1.7 billion to build what would be the country's largest hydropower dam.

Venezuela is buying high-tech oil-drilling platforms from China and is sending some 380,000 barrels of oil there per day as Chavez diversifies Venezuelan exports away from the United States. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/71510.html

Furniture Companies Have High Profile on Import List
According to the Top 100 list of the nation’s largest importers that was compiled by the Journal of Commerce, furniture is one that continues to grow. Retail powerhouse Ikea placed 12th by importing 100,300 TEUs in 2008. Right behind Ikea at No. 13 is manufacturer and retailer Ashley Furniture, which imported 96,700 TEUs last year. Other key furniture players included No. 26 Pier 1 Imports with 43,300 TEUs; No. 41 Furniture Brands International with 32,300 TEUs; No. 43 Rooms To Go with 28,800 TEUs; No. 75 Natuzzi with 15,100 TEUs; No. 81 Coaster with 14,300 TEUs; and No. 85 Lifestyle Enterprise with 13,700 TEUs. http://www.furnituretoday.com/blog/Special_Order/18631-Furniture_companies_have_high_profile_on_import_list.php

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

SeaCargo Americas provides an outstanding opportunity for your company to showcase its products and services to a targeted group of potential new customers. Sponsorships range from banners ($1,000), coffee breaks ($3,000), luncheons and receptions ($5,000- $10,000).To receive further information, please call Charlotte Gallogly at 305-871-7910 or email: info@worldtrade.org. Visit: www.seacargoamericas.com

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