PORTLAND: The Port of Portland is losing another major container carrier.
As first reported by The Oregonian, Hapag-Lloyd has stopped scheduling trips to Terminal 6 in Portland.
The announcement comes about a month after Hanjin Shipping Co. also pulled out of the Port. Together, Hanjin and Hapag-Lloyd made up nearly all of the business at Terminal 6.
They take with them hundreds of jobs and a loss of stability for other businesses. The only remaining shipping line is Westwood, which only sends a few vessels in and out of the container port.
Hapag Lloyd was Oregon’s direct marine line to Europe. Port and agriculture industry officials now fear other ports will become more expensive to ship out of, without Portland competing for the same business.
On March 9, the Port of Portland’s largest container carrier cancelled its services through the terminal. South Korean shipping company Hanjin had handled nearly 80 percent of the container volume at the port’s Terminal 6.
Hanjin’s pullout was not a surprise. In recent years, the company had expressed many concerns about the pace of work among longshore crews and announced its intention to withdraw two years ago.
Since 2012, members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union clashed with the Philippines-based company known as ICTSI that operates Terminal 6 for the port. Those labor troubles also hindered the port’s ability to stay competitive in the fast-moving industry.
