On May 2nd, the Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC) staff recommended overturning an earlier Seaport committee vote that rejected the Oakland A’s application for redesignating the Howard Terminal site for real estate use.

Steven King is the managing director of Quonset Development Corp (QDC) which manages Quonset Business Park (QBP) a 3,200 acre business park located on Quonset Point, (North Kingstown) Rhode Island. Besides the 200 plus companies located within the QBP is the Port of Davisville, one of the country’s top auto ports with numbers over 300,000 in most years, although with COVID and other disruptions the Port slipped under 200,000 in 2021.

Paul Snell, chief executive officer, British American Shipping, Long Beach, California, suggested that a coastal feeder ship service linking the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland could relieve Southern California port congestion.

The United States is facing growing challenges exporting agricultural products abroad at a time when it lacks the U.S. flagged vessels to support international trade, according to panelists addressing a Maritime Day symposium entitled “Do U.S. Exporters Need U.S. Ships?”

The Port of Oakland Turning Basin expansion, crucial to allowing mega containerships to expeditiously dock at the Port of Oakland, could be in jeopardy if the Bay Conservation and Development Commission approves the Oakland Athletics application to exclude the Howard Terminal site from its current seaport designation, according to Mike Jacob, vice president and general counsel, Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA).

The recent fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine has led to upheaval following an unprecedented number of sanctions and export controls.

The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC) is urging the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) to avoid even a minor disruption of West Coast terminal operations as the two sides begin negotiating a new labor agreement.

There has been no major dislocation of imports from China due to the COVID lockdown in Shanghai

Jim McKenna, president and CEO Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), is hopeful that contract negotiations set to begin with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) will avoid a work stoppage.