The Abu Dhabi Ports Co. said it ordered three more of the largest cranes in the world, placing orders with the ZPMC yard in Shanghai, China, for three new STS (ship to shore) cranes. The new cranes are scheduled to become operational at the port by March 1, 2014, joining six other ZPMC STS cranes currently operating at Khalifa Port. ADPC also said it ordered 12 new ASC (Automated Stacking Cranes) for the container yard from Konecranes, who supplied the current 30 ASC cranes onsite. The first six are scheduled to be delivered by January 2014, and the remaining six two months later.

The Port of Virginia had its second-best month in history in terms of TEUs and containers, and its best month for general cargo volume, it said. In November, the port handled 198,720 TEUs, up 21.2 percent over the same month last year. For the first 11 months, the port handled 1,920,137 TEUs, vs. 1,763,729 TEUs during the same period last year, up 8.9 percent. The 11-month total topped the full year of 2011, said Rodney Oliver, interim executive director of the Virginia Port Authority.

CMA CGM, the third-largest container shipping line, bought a stake in the Port of Long Beach's Pier J, eventually bringing an additional 2.6 million container units to the port and increasing port revenue by about $70 million over the next five years, port officials said. The deal makes CMA a partner in the lease and operations of the 256-acre terminal and is CMA's first investment in a port on the West Coast. As a result, its ships will call exclusively at the Port of Long Beach when using the San Pedro Bay gateway, the officials said. Pier J is home to Pacific Container Terminal. CMA CGM operates 395 vessels calling at 400 ports.

The Small Business Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency will be coming to the Port of New York and New Jersey Dec. 17-19 to provide information on federal assistance to small businesses trying to recover from Hurricane Sandy, the port authority said. There will be a town hall type informational session Dec. 18 at 10 a.m. (ET) in the New York Shipping Association Training Center, 1210 Corbin St., Elizabeth, N.J. Following the all hands meeting, the SBA will be available Dec. 18-19 at the Training Center to answer individual questions, help file a claim, or apply for a loan, among other things, it said. RSVP to John Rizzuto at jrizzuto@panynj.gov or (201) 578-2128 by Dec. 17.

The Port of Oakland continued taking what it called "comprehensive and decisive action that demonstrates a new era of transparency and accountability at the Port," it said Dec. 10. The actions, which follow an investigation by the port's outside counsel into expense reimbursement practices and policies that led to executive resignations, include:

The National Retail Federation urged the International Longshoremen’s Association and U.S. Maritime Alliance to reach an immediate contract agreement before the Dec,.29 deadline, in order to ensure a secure and dependable supply chain along the East and Gulf Coast ports, in a letter to both sides. Another round of contract talks is set for next week.

The three Port of Long Beach terminals closed by the recent work stoppage will have some cargo fees waived to provide financial relief and to expedite the movement of containers, port officials said (here). "We are relieved to return to full operations and we want to do our part in getting things back to normal as soon as possible," said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Christopher Lytle. All terminals at the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles reopened Wednesday morning (see ITT's Online Archives 12120534). The impacted terminals were LBCT (Pier F), ITS (Pier G) and TTI (Pier T).

Cargotec has a contract to provide 14 Kalmar ESC 450W straddle carriers for U.K.-based Forth Ports Group, for its London Container Terminal at Tilbury, it said. LCT handles more than a half million containers per year. Delivery is scheduled for next April. Terms weren't disclosed.

The Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach strike "is now at the national emergency stage impacting industries far and wide," said National Retail Federation President Matthew Shay, renewing his request that President Obama intervene in the strike. There was no reported resolution of the strike of clerical workers and longshoremen (see ITT's Online Archives 12120317) at our deadline.

Picketing continued Dec. 3 at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach as a result of a long-running contract dispute between port employers and members of Office Clerical Unit Local 63 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (see ITT's Online Archives 12113025).