While there are some sporadic signs of life in the overall containerized freight market, by and large the volumes are down sharply from a year ago and the short- to medium-term outlook is dicey at best. Yet, ports along the West Coast are keeping things afloat by concentrating on a more diversified mix of cargo, boosting their green business (in terms of more environmentally and efficient operations as well as moving cargo such as wind turbines), and investing in key infrastructure upgrades.

Canada’s Port of Prince Rupert showed the biggest improvement in box traffic, mostly because it is the newest player in the market with its Fairview Terminal having opened in late October 2007. During 2008, the Fairview Terminal handled 181,890 TEUs from 78 vessels. The terminal’s throughput for the first six months of last year was 42,555 TEUs before jumping more than 300 percent in the second half of the year to 139,335 TEUs as a result of the addition of the second COSCO/CKYH alliance service in July. In the fourth quarter, the terminal operated at greater than 60 percent of its 500,000 TEU capacity with a throughput of 79,106 TEUs.

The Port of Prince Rupert boasts a shorter sailing distance from Asia to North America than other major ports, and the deepest harbor in North America with year-round ice-free access that can accommodate the largest vessels. In addition, the port offers high-speed rail links to the Midwest via Canadian National railways.

Officials are bullish on the port’s future, and are planning to quadruple the container terminal’s handling capacity to 2 million TEUs during the second phase of expansion, with design, environmental assessment, and consultations already underway.

At Port Metro Vancouver, the largest port in Canada, containerized freight was essentially flat in 2008, although the port did post increases in shipments of coal, potash, and petroleum products.

“We are certainly not immune to the effects of current economic conditions, but at the same time a number of factors, such as our high degree of diversification and focus on the Canadian market, have allowed port volumes to remain relatively stable compared to many of the port’s competitors,” noted Captain Gordon Houston, president and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver, in an interview.

This year will mark a milestone for the port with the implementation of shore power-providing electrical power for ships at berth so they don’t have to run their diesel engines. The step represents the first shore power installation for cruise ships in Canada, and only the third such installation in the world.

“Our government is working with our provincial, territorial and industry partners to invest in infrastructure projects that can improve our quality of life, encourage job creation and ultimately strengthen our economy,” explained one official. “The launch of the port electrification project is a clear example of what can be done to stimulate our economy when we all work together,” he added.

In the Pacific Northwest, green business is also at the forefront for major ports. In January, the ports of Seattle and Tacoma along with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency announced the approval of $318,000 in additional funding for a program to reduce diesel emissions from cargo handling equipment at the ports. The additional funding tops the $850,000 already approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency towards the effort. Funding will go towards the retrofit or replacement of 38 trucks, cranes, and forklifts at the Port of Seattle, and 50-60 similar pieces of equipment at the Port of Tacoma. All of the new equipment will run on ultra-low sulfur diesel.

Meanwhile, the Port of Seattle is looking forward to the re-opening of Terminal 30 later this year, which is being reconfigured as a container terminal for tenant China Shipping Lines. The container terminal will be able to handle vessels with an 8,000-TEU capacity.

Several key infrastructure projects will help the Port of Seattle facilitate the increase in cargo when volumes return to healthier numbers. The SR 519 project, which is scheduled for completion in late 2010 or early 2011, will eliminate at-grade rail crossings, increase freight capacity on Atlantic Street, and improve access between the port’s marine terminals and interstates 5 and 90. The East Marginal Way grade separation project, with an estimated completion date of mid-2010, will separate road and rail traffic south of the port’s cargo terminals and improve access to the warehouse district in south Seattle and the Kent Valley, where more than half of all of the warehouse and distribution space in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties is located, according to Charlie Sheldon, Seaport Managing Director, Port of Seattle.

Earlier this year, BNSF announced a new express international container service from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma to the railroad’s intermodal facilities in Memphis, Tennessee and BNSF’s Logistics Park-Chicago in Illinois.

“This express service can cut down transit time by almost a full day, making it one of the fastest intermodal cargo services from the Pacific Northwest to Chicago and Memphis,” stated Steve Branscum, BNSF’s group vice president, Consumer Products Marketing. “The new express service not only relies on the speed of the train and the route followed, but also the ability of the ports and the intermodal hubs to provide efficient and reliable service.”

The Port of Seattle’s Charlie Sheldon added, “This enhanced express service from BNSF makes the Pacific Northwest gateway even more competitive by reducing transit times to hubs in Chicago and Memphis. The Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma have the capacity to handle more cargo now. There’s never been a better time to route cargo through the [Pacific Northwest].”

As for the Port of Tacoma, while containerized freight fell in 2008, the port got some good news in December when it was announced that Mitsubishi Motors would start exporting vehicles to Asia from the port. The carmaker has been importing vehicles through the port since 1982. Initially, Mitsubishi’s exports will be relatively small-just under 1,000 units-but any business is better than none in the current economic climate.

Another promising piece of business for the Port of Tacoma is the expansion of its Container Freight Service (CFS) operations. “A growing trend is to de-van at ports of entry and transload into domestic boxes,” said Susan Becklund, the port’s Director of Operational Services, in an interview. “This saves the shipper time and expense by avoiding the cost of repositioning empty containers from the ultimate point of destination. Depending on cargo, a CFS transload may be the right choice,” she said.

The latest statistics (from January) for the Port of Portland tell a similar story when it comes to containerized freight. For the month, box shipments were off about 28 percent compared to the same month last year. Specifically, import containers declined 32.6 percent to 6,677 TEUs and export containers decreased 23.8 percent to 9,284 TEUs. Vessel calls were also down dramatically (24 percent) to only 54 in January. The sole bright spot was breakbulk shipments, which were up 6.2 percent to 47,515 tons.

On another ‘green’ note, one of the most promising developments for the Port of Vancouver USA was the recent extension of a contract with Vestas American Wind Technology along with a new two-year contract with Siemens Energy to handle wind turbine shipments. Together, the two contracts alone could provide 235 new jobs and $20 million in economic value to the entire port region, said Larry Paulson, the port’s executive director.

In 2000, Vestas, a Denmark-based wind turbine manufacturer with offices in Portland, Oregon, started shipping product through Vancouver, Washington. By 2005, wind machines accounted for 18,551 metric tons of port cargo. That metric tonnage grew to 30,423 in 2006 and in 2007 hit 77,525 metric tons. Last year’s figures were lower, however, due to uncertainty over federal tax credits for wind energy plants. But, Congress has since extended the credit so shipments should again start to increase. At the same time, new laws in the state of Washington are expected to prompt its largest utilities to beef up their use of renewable energy sources, which bode well for wind turbine manufacturers.

According to Marc Krasnowsky, communications director for the NW Energy Coalition in Seattle, “That has created a market for businesses like Vestas and Siemens to sell and construct wind facilities in the state, and that’s why they’re coming through the Port of Vancouver.”

Nancy Baker, president of the port’s three-member commission, said that wind energy cargo generated about 14,000 hours of dock work for longshoremen in 2005, and about 72,000 hours in 2007. In 2009, port officials estimate that over 100,000 longshore hours will be devoted to the handling of wind energy cargo.

The port purchased a second crane to handle wind turbine shipments, that should be up and running by March 15. Another benefit the port has for wind shipments is access to vast areas of land around the port’s four terminals, which is necessary to stage the wind energy equipment during the shipment process.

Port director Paulson summed it up recently when he said, “Wind energy products are the bright spot. When you see them traveling through our community and down our streets, be patient and think about how many jobs they create.”

Winds of change

The good news being generated by wind energy shipments such as those at the Port of Vancouver USA is being shared among other West Coast ports, namely California’s Port of West Sacramento and nearby Port of Stockton.

Last month, the Port of West Sacramento received a shipment of two, huge generators-the largest pieces of equipment ever unloaded at the port-destined for Pacific Gas & Electric’s (P&E) Colusa Generating Station, a new 660-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant located near Maxwell, California.

“The Port of West Sacramento is playing a key role in helping us develop the state-of-the-art power facility,” said Jon Maring, senior director of power generation for PG&E, in an interview. “The port’s ability to handle cargo this large was critical in our efforts to move this project forward in a timely way.”

The chairman of the Sacramento-Yolo Port Commission added, “This shipment is another example of the port’s increasingly important role in enabling the implementation of new and more environmentally friendly energy technologies throughout Northern California.”

The shipment in February was the first of four shipments that the port will handle for the Maxwell facility this year.

Meanwhile, the Port of Stockton has emerged as one of the largest receivers of wind turbines in the world. The port is close to San Francisco and Sacramento, yet has an abundance of relatively inexpensive land, and is at the heart of much activity related to the renewables market. The sun and wind potential in Stockton is among some of the best in the country and with 2,000 acres available, the port is already home to biodiesel and ethanol plants. Furthermore, the city of Stockton and the port have worked in partnership to focus resources on developing green business. For example, Stockton has begun working with local educational institutions, including high schools, community colleges, and four-year universities, to educate the workforce for the booming renewable energy industry.

Indeed, a recent article in The Modesto Bee discussed just how important the renewables industry is to the port and the region as a whole. Cheryl Brown, a labor specialist with the University of California at Berkeley Labor Center, told the paper, “You have land, a waiting work force and work force development opportunities,” she said. “You’re on major transportation lines and have a port (in Stockton). And, you’re close to the Bay Area, where much of the innovation is happening.”

Over the past few years a number of green projects have sprouted in the region. Last year, Frito-Lay installed a giant solar system at its Modesto plant, while Fiscalini Farmstead Cheese of Modesto and the Joseph Gallo Farms cheese plant in Atwater generate electricity from methane extracted from their cows’ manure.

In the San Francisco bay area, the Port of Oakland is in the midst of a project to modernize terminals. Specifically, the port broke ground last summer on the Berths 30-33 Yard and Gate Redevelopment project, a capital improvement effort aimed at improving operational efficiencies and facilities at the Oakland TraPac Terminal. Acreage will be expanded from 35 to 65 acres, while other upgrades, such as new entrance and exit gates, parking, longshore facilities, and lighting, will also be included in the project.

Across the bay, the Port of San Francisco is hoping a project to develop a high-speed rail line to connect San Francisco and other major cities across the state will pay off for the port. In particular, the port is hoping that the project will include work on expanding rail tunnels to accommodate freight trains. If so, the port could move forward on an idea to import and possibly export cars through the Port of San Francisco. Car shipments would help boost revenue at the port, which currently uses Pier 80 to import bulk commodities like construction materials.

In Southern California, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have launched one of the most ambitious green programs of any port in the nation. At the center of the Clean Air Action Plan is a move to get ‘dirty’ trucks off the roads, which started in October with a ban on 1988 and older trucks. Other trucks that don’t meet 2007 air pollution standards began paying a $35 per TEU fee in February.

The National Resources Defense Council said the step in October to remove about 2,000 of the twenty-year and older trucks reduced diesel particulates emissions by an estimated 50 percent. “These are the dirtiest ports in the nation, with the worst air pollution, but if this program survives its legal challenges, the changes these ports are making now could be adopted throughout the country,” said David Pettit, senior attorney for the resources council, in a report by the Los Angeles Times.

At the same time, the ports of LA/LB are introducing electric trucks and other yard equipment that run on cleaner burning fuels. And recently, the world’s first electric-diesel hybrid tugboat was delivered to the ports. Within three years, most ships calling the port complex will be able to plug into an electrical grid while at berth and use shore power instead of running their diesel engines. Wt