Managing Members approve pursuing USNS Bob Hope contract

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

NWSA monthly e-newsletter, Breakwater

December 29, 2016

In this issue:

Crane surplus, legislative agenda top Tuesday’s meeting

The Managing Members are expected to discuss surplusing cranes at a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 3. The Managing Members will consider an amendment to the TOTE Maritime Alaska lease. See memo

They will also consider the 2017 legislative agenda and review the 2017 CEO performance goals and expectations with CEO John Wolfe. View the full agenda.

The special joint meeting with the Port of Seattle begins at 11:30 a.m. in Room 104 of the Fabulich Center, 3600 Port of Tacoma Road in Tacoma. Meetings are streamed live from the alliance’s website.

Managing Members approve pursuing USNS Bob Hope contract

USNS Bob Hope

At the Dec. 19 special public meeting, the Managing Members unanimously approved to join Foss Maritime in pursuing a contract to berth the USNS Bob Hope vessel as an interim use of Terminal 5 in the North Harbor.

The USNS Bob Hope is the first ship in the Navy's first class of large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ships (LMSR), and is part of the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC). The primary mission of these ships is to transport shore-based equipment and supplies in support of military and humanitarian operations.

This past summer the Bob Hope participated in the Cascadia Rising earthquake recovery exercise. These ships are a key asset in recovery efforts in the event of a widespread natural disaster.  

The ships are operated by 30 civilian mariners who work for a private company under contract to MSC and up to 50 embarked military personnel who monitor and maintain the equipment being transported. The ships are maintained in reduced operational status, which means they can be operationally ready in four days.

Should Foss and the NWSA be successful in winning this bid, the ship would berth at Terminal 5. The Navy plans to run the ship on shore power while at berth. 

Solid peak season delivers highest container volumes over the last five years

November’s laden import and export volumes recorded their strongest for the month over the last five years. Full imports and exports for November reflect a continued solid peak season at The Northwest Seaport Alliance, with 28 percent and 23 percent increases, respectively, compared with November 2015. The NWSA had four more international vessel calls in November than October and three more than in last November.

To support strong imports and agricultural exports during this year’s peak season, the NWSA added three weeks to its extended service hours program by reimbursing the terminal operators up to $2 million. The top import commodities moving through our gateway include furniture, apparel, toys/games and footwear. The top export commodities moving through our gateway include hay, forest products, apples and potatoes.

Year to date, laden imports are up 6 percent to 1,268,049 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) and full exports increased 14 percent to 897,785 TEUs. The year’s total container volumes are up almost 2 percent through November to 3,299,538 TEUs. 

Year to date, domestic volumes have been down as Alaska struggles with a decrease in oil- and gas-related project activity due to low commodity prices. November’s overall domestic volume showed an increase due to additional sailing, compared to the prior year.

In other cargo news:

Breakbulk cargo is down 24 percent year to date to 165,836 metric tons as the global downturn in agricultural, mining and construction equipment, and a strong U.S. dollar impact volumes.

Log exports declined 36 percent year to date to 150,962 metric tons due to decreased demand in China and competition from New Zealand.

Autos fell 10 percent to 151,985 units for the month because of production issues as well as supply chain shifts.

View the November 2016 cargo reports:

Happy holidays!

Holiday card

Wishing you peace and prosperity for the new year. The power of 2017.

Click the image above to view our holiday greeting. If the link does not work, copy and paste this URL in your browser: http://bit.ly/2icdWIL.