Fourteen months ago, the same week the first Zim container vessel tied up in Portland, a company executive called opportunities in the River City "pretty much endless." On Tuesday, Port of Portland managers found out that the end had come a lot sooner than Zim, and they, had expected. Israel-based Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. formally notified the Port that its container ships would no longer call in Portland, effective Sept. 2.
Port executives had hoped Zim's entry into Oregon in May 2006 would lead to a resurgence in container volumes. Import and export of the metal boxes - vital to overseas movement of consumer goods, from electronics to furniture to sporting goods - spur job growth for longshoremen, truck drivers and others. Shipping in and out of Portland also provides cost efficiency for retailers, manufacturers and farmers here.
The Port had languished with only two container carriers, Hanjin Shipping and Hapag Lloyd Container Line, for all of 2005. Two carriers had pulled out late in 2004, and container volumes plummeted. But Zim and Taiwan's Yang Ming Transport Corp. began calling in Portland in 2006. Container volumes have risen more than 40 percent since.
Sam Ruda, the Port's marine director, said Zim was unable to capture as much of the growth as had been expected. Earlier this year, after Yang Ming more than doubled the size of ships on its Portland calls, Zim slipped from second, behind Hanjin, to third in container volume through Portland.
Port officials had earlier projected that Zim would carry about 20 percent of all of Portland's container volume in 2007-2008.
Zim officials in the United States could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon at their Virginia offices. But in a cordial letter sent Tuesday to Ruda, Zim Senior Vice President Chaim Shacham wrote "the current situation for ocean carriers is very harsh ... this is the best course of action at this time to protect Zim interests."
Unlike a year ago, when Zim left Seattle to add the Portland stop, Ruda said the line is not adding another U.S. call. He said he had been told that Zim, which transports goods from the Mediterranean and Asia, plans to make Vancouver, B.C., its only North American call.
Ruda said the Port was disappointed by the decision, particularly after wooing Zim for months. But he said container shipping is always volatile.
"I am confident we will recover from this," Ruda said.
Portland is particularly susceptible to the vagaries of container ship deployment because carrier lines do not have dedicated terminals here and hold short-term contracts with the Port. At huge West Coast ports such as Long Beach, Calif., and Tacoma, ports have built multimillion-dollar terminals for lines in exchange for long-term leases.
(oregonlive.com)
