Phoenix Industry News Summary
November 8, 2002

In order to provide our customers with the most current information available, the Phoenix News Summary is emailing industry news updates. Our summaries can also be read via our web site, www.phoenixintl.com <http://www.phoenixintl.com>, on the Industry News page.

Congestion eases at LA-Long Beach - JOC The severe backlog of vessels at Los Angeles-Long Beach that resulted from the 10-day employer lockout of West Coast longshoremen in early October is diminishing quickly, and the ports could be back to normal in about one week. That's the good news reported Friday by the Marine Exchange of Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbor. The bad news is that vessel arrivals in the nation's largest port complex are down considerably because some ships have been diverted and a number of vessels were stuck in port for so long that it will take weeks to get them back into a normal rotation. A total of 65 vessels are at anchor and at berth in Los Angeles-Long Beach. That's down from a peak of 127 ships last month. The marine exchange reports that vessels are not tied up at anchor as long as they were last month, and when they are brought to berth, the ships are not waiting as long to secure labor. In November, the downward trend is continuing as shipping lines struggle to get their weekly services back to normal. Only 75 vessels are scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles-Long Beach over the next few weeks, compared with the 150 that would normally arrive at this time of year. Meanwhile, Maersk Sealand is advising clients that berthing delays at its West Coast terminals have disappeared in Tacoma and amount to four days in Los Angeles and one day in Oakland. In a statement to customers, the Danish carrier also said that its WCCA, TP3, and TA3 services will only call Oakland until further notice. The carrier said Maersk said it "looks forward to restoring normal service when conditions in Los Angeles allow."

Airlines vie for Hong Kong rights - JOC The scramble is on for the rights to offer additional all-cargo flights from Hong Kong. As expected, FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation for the lion's share of new flights permitted under the recent bilateral air agreement worked out between the United States and Hong Kong.
But DOT will also have to weigh applications from five other airlines, including Northwest and Polar Air Cargo, wanting to take advantage of the new rights entitling U.S. carriers to haul cargo between Hong Kong and other markets, such as the Philippines, where FedEx and UPS both have intra-Asia hubs. Altogether, the six carriers have asked for the rights to offer 43 flights immediately, however, only 24 , are available. DOT has yet to establish the procedures for determining which airlines will get which flights, but spokesman Bill Mosley said the department will be issuing a notice shortly. The carriers want to offer 34 additional all-cargo flights as of October 2003; only 16 more will be available then.

Our summary articles are compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Phoenix's knowledge, are true and correct. In the event any information provided is erroneous, Phoenix International Freight Services, Ltd. accepts no liability or responsibility.