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Refining the sales pitch: Port of Seattle nets new container business By Peter Hurme Double-digit declines in container business have been the norm for many North American ports thus far, not to mention worldwide, so the sales pitch to attract new shipping services through a particular gateway has become even more challenging, and competitive. In the Pacific Northwest, the primary ports from Portland, Ore. all the way up to Prince Rupert, B.C. are battling themselves, not to mention California and upstart Mexico, over discretionary, intermodal business destined for the major eastern U.S. population centers. The widening Panama Canal is projected to pose an additional challenge by prompting more cargo on bigger ships to take the all-water route to eastern load centers. The challenge for PNW ports has been less globally sourced consumer goods cargo to go around, and new shipping services can mean something momentous amid the current economic atmosphere of dwindled consumer confidence. The Port of Seattle has been no exception to the global containerized drop, posting an over 25 percent year-on-year plunge in box traffic through the end of April. New liner business in Elliott Bay However, the Puget Sound container port has also managed to attract new business from 3 major shipping lines CMA CGM, Maersk and APL. The port said it is also looking for some current shipping line customers to possibly up their cargo volume presence in the coming months. The port’s new joint Maersk/CMA CGM service began calling SSA Marine’s Terminal 18 on June 7, and is deploying 14 vessels with a capacity of 6,500 TEUs each. The service connects the Port of Seattle with Tanjung Pelepas, Hong Kong, Yantian, Shanghai and Busan. Seattle is the first inbound port-of-call. Singapore’s APL container shipping line started up its PS1 service in June, a 15-day, direct call route from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Seattle. The port also unveiled in May its $50-million investment in the 70-acre Terminal 30 facility, which was expanded so China Shipping could move over from Terminal 18. “They want to move more of their southern cargo through this facility and also use it for new business,” said Phil Lutes, deputy managing director of Seattle’s seaport division. In addition, Hong Kong’s OOCL and Germany’s Hapag Lloyd are upsizing their ships to 8,000 TEUs, which is the largest ship size in a regular service at Port of Seattle. “Fee-free” in Seattle What factors have helped Seattle gain some new business during an historic, difficult period in container shipping? “Knowing what your costs are coming through the Port of Seattle,” is a big part of the sales pitch, said Phil Lutes, deputy managing director of Seattle’s seaport division. “We’re trying harder to collaborate with customers, like the clean truck plan we put together. We put a lot of time into devising a plan; put an industry sector group together - we’re saying “fee-free” in Seattle,” Lutes said. Seattle’s clean trucks plan calls for prohibiting what it terms the most polluting trucks - 1994 model-year and older - from entering port terminals beginning January 1, 2011, but the port is not levying “clean truck fees” as in the case of the L.A.-Long Beach clean truck plans. The port has actually lowered some fees by putting together a “customer relief package” that focused on the terminal operators, reducing their fees and deferring some payments, similar to what the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have done. The port also implemented at-berth clean air incentives, providing what it termed “small financial incentives” for ship operators using cleaner fuel (0.5% sulfur diesel). Making the “Green Gateway” pay The ports of Seattle and Tacoma have branded themselves as the “Green Gateway,” using a study commissioned from Herbert Engineering that says the Puget Sound offers a smaller carbon footprint to ship eastern-bound intermodal cargo through. Timing may, or may not, be everything. Does the Port of Seattle see a way of making “green” pay with the bottom falling out of the container-shipping market? “Right now, cost is king,” said Lutes. “The green gateway and carbon footprint will gain more interest as the economy starts to improve and people focus more attention on it.” “We’re ready for this. We’ve done it, and we’ll continue to work on the Green Gateway. What we’re saying to shippers and carriers is ‘we’ll do it collaboratively,’ so that it’s not a decision to make about do I want to go green or go through another gateway.”	In This Issue Up Front News, Trends & Analysis New Items The Growth Paradox Supply Chain Industries to watch Trade compliance in the workplace Logistics costs dropped in 2008 Overseas trade experts have some tips for you Five things you should know about U.S. trade policy Supply Chain product review Inventory container management Features Gateway at a glance U.S. Northeast Bulk Up Ports & infrastructure Port of Seattle nets new container business Clean trucks at your ports: How to pay for them? Port Product Review Project cargo equipment Commentary Are we thinking inside or outside the box? On the horizon: Wave Energy - A future power source for your port Casualties
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Refining the sales pitch: Port of Seattle nets new container business