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Marine Cargo Up, Despite Loss of Shipper by Staff Portland Business Journal, October 23, 2007

Cargo at the Port of Portland continues to climb, despite the suspension last month of local service by Israel-based Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.

Total tonnage shipped through the port is up 20.8 percent this year, according to data released late Monday. The number of cargo containers, measured in 20-foot equivalent units, is up 29.1 percent this year.

The growth comes at a time when many West Coast ports are struggling. The Port of Oakland is on pace to move 1.1 percent fewer containers this year. The Port of Seattle is 0.9 percent behind last year's pace.

Zim announced in July that it would suspend its Portland service this fall. Its last ship called Portland Sept. 4. Despite the loss of Zim, the port still moved 2 percent more containers this September.

The port set a record for auto imports last year, processing 463,000 cars. It's on pace to break that record by 3.9 percent, although September shipments fell 12.5 percent from the same time period last year.

Zim represented about 20 percent of the port's container business. Three other container carriers call Portland: Korea-based Hanjin Shipping Co. Ltd., Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd AG and Taiwan-based Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp.