News, Trends, & Analysis
Future Northwest Passage
By Amy Schenck
The possibility that the Northwest Passage will open in the next decade or two has caught the world’s attention.
Last year, Russia placed a flag on the North Pole’s ocean floor with mini-submarines. Canada has spent millions on Arctic research. And the U.S. Coast Guard soon might be operating permanently out of Barrow, Alaska.
On July 27, two Coast Guard air crews, along with a couple of helicopters and boats, arrived in the northern-most city in the United States. They came to look at what the resource requirements would be to move into the region, as well as to begin community relations.
And in the past year the Coast Guard has made several flights along Alaska’s northwest coast to monitor melting sea ice and coastal erosion in what it terms Arctic Domain Awareness patrols.
“We’re just crawling right now, trying to figure out what’s the best way to operate up here,” says Capt. Andrew Berghorn, commanding officer at Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak, in Kodiak, Alaska.
As the Arctic Ocean’s ice cap recedes, Barrow residents have already noticed a spike in maritime traffic. This year, oil exploration boats, ecotourism vessels and cruiseships have sailed by the small Native Alaskan town.
It’s quite the sight to “see a vessel that holds 2,000 people out there off the shore of a community that has approximately 5,000 people,” says Michael Stotts, mayor of Barrow.
If the Northwest Passage does become ice free, the number of large vessels off Barrow’s coast could increase exponentially. It would shorten the trip between Europe and Asia by 50% — a huge savings in fuel and time.
In anticipation, the Coast Guard has established a cooperative working relationship with Russia, Berghorn says. The two countries do joint operations and participate in biannual exchanges.
Developing relations with other northern countries, including Canada, Sweden and Finland, is a priority, the captain said.
“It’s going to be a dynamic future,” Berghorn says.
Improving Water Quality
In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory agencies, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach (LA/LB) are expanding their water quality programs with the development of a coordinated Water Resources Action Plan (WRAP). The plan is a comprehensive effort to target remaining water and sediment pollution sources in the San Pedro Bay.
The Water Resources Action Plan will bring together multiple stakeholders to systematically identify sources and types of residual water and sediment pollution and to coordinate effective cleanup strategies.
Even though water quality has improved dramatically since the 1972 passage of the U.S. Clean Water Act, the LA/LB ports determined that better regional coordination could further improve water quality.
“We’ve made terrific progress in cleaning the air through a collaborative approach, so it was only natural that we’d also take the same approach in working together to improve the quality of water in San Pedro Bay,” says Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Geraldine Knatz.
Oil Prices Decrease, Jobs Increase
TrimTabs Investment Research reported that job growth in August was at its highest since October 2007.
The U.S. economy added an estimated 92,000 jobs in August based on TrimTabs’ analysis of daily income tax deposits to the U.S. Treasury from all salaried U.S. employees. And wages of all U.S. workers on payrolls surged 4.80% year-over-year in August.
“The bursting of the oil bubble took a huge weight off the economy,” said Charles Biderman, CEO of TrimTabs. “If oil prices keep heading lower, we expect hiring managers to continue adding to payrolls.”
TrimTabs did note that despite employment growth, the economy is not out of the woods yet. The company estimates the economy shed 639,000 jobs in the first eight months of 2008.
People on the Move
• The Port of Tacoma (WA) hired Alyce Benge as contracts manager, responsible for the management and oversight of construction contracts, including the financial and legal compliance of all port-contracting activities.
• Ralph Graves, a former U.S. Army Corps District Engineer for Seattle (WA), joined the Port of Seattle in August as managing director of capital development.
• Brian Harms is the new director of global forwarding business development for C.H. Robinson Worldwide.
• DHL appointed Hans Hickler CEO for its Global Customer Solutions (GCS) organization, responsible for the customer relationship management of the group’s largest customers worldwide.
• Union Pacific named Ken Hunt regional vice president of operations for the Western region. He replaces Tom Jacobi, who will assume the newly created position of vice president of UP’s operating systems and practices department.
• Kansas City Southern promoted Brett C. Jensen from general director to assistant vice president, intermodal sales and marketing.
• The Board of Directions of Jones Act tanker company U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. elected Ronald L. O’Kelley as president and chief executive officer. O’Kelley will replace Paul Gridley, who will remain as chairman.
• IES promoted Jason Kohler to vice president of sales. He will be replacing William Todd.
• YRC Worldwide appointed Paul F. Liljegren, 53, as the company’s interim chief financial officer to replace Stephen L. Bruffett and named Mike Kelley as chief sustainability officer.
• Robert H. Nicholas Jr. recently joined the law firm Phelps Dunbar LLP in Houston (TX). Nicholas is counsel in the firm’s regional admiralty and tort practice group.
• Roy Schleicher, JAXPORT’s senior director of trade development, marketing and customer service, was elected to a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Transportation & Marketing Communications Association (TMCA).
• Ports America Group announced the appointment of Deborah H. Telman to the position of general counsel at the company’s Iselin, N.J., headquarters. Prior to this, she served as chief counsel for mergers and acquisitions at The Boeing Company.
CN Acquisition
The Canadian National Railway (CN) announced that it has reached an agreement with the City of Joliet, Ill., to acquire a major portion of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Co. (EJ&E). CN also stated that the agreement resolves the outstanding concerns the city has regarding quiet zones, operations and communications surrounding the transaction.
“We believe this will be the first of many agreements between CN and the communities along the EJ&E line that are impacted by this transaction,” says Gordon T. Trafton, senior vice president, southern region. “We have consistently been willing to work with and address the concerns of communities across the region. We believe this agreement with Joliet is evidence that these concerns can be mitigated.”
CN has been actively involved in the environmental review process and participated in the public hearings. CN is working with other affected communities along the EJ&E line to reach voluntary mitigation agreements addressing environmental concerns associated with increased train traffic on the EJ&E.
“The purchase of the EJ&E will have far-reaching economic and transportation benefits to the Chicago region and the nation, and we are eager to continue our negotiations with other communities,” Trafton said.
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