The International Association of Maritime and Port Executives A Not-for Profit Professional Development Industry Association From the desk of Capt. Jeff Monroe, MM, AMPE DIESEL EMISSION REDUCTION ACT DEADLINE EXTENDED The Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant funding application period has been extended to March 26 at 11:59 p.m. (ET). Currently there is approximately $40 million in FY 2019 funding available for projects aimed at reducing emissions from existing fleets o

From the desk of Capt. Jeff Monroe, MM, AMPE International Association of Maritime and Port Executives WTO PREDICTS SLOWER GROWTH IN WORLD TRADE MARKET The World Trade Organization (WTO) is expecting slower trade growth in 2019 and world economies continue to languish and tariffs impact world trade. The WTO’s World Trade Outlook Indicator which was released on February 19, showed a decline in the first quarter of 2019. The most recent WTOI reading of 96.3 is the weakest sin

From the desk of Capt. Jeff Monroe, MM, AMPE International Association of Maritime and Port Executives SPIRITS REMAIN HIGH Not a pun, consumable non-fermented alcohol products, distilled spirits, showed another year of record U.S. sales and volumes in 2018. The increase of sales has continued growth for nine consecutive years. American whiskey exports were impacted by tariffs but domestic consumption remained strong according to the Distilled Spirits Council. The Council rep

From the desk of Capt. Jeff Monroe, MM, AMPE International Association of Maritime and Port Executives PERISHABLE CARGO INCREASE The transport of perishable cargoes, including fresh produce, had a growth of containerized reefer cargo by 8%. Fresh produce grew by 5% up to116 million tons in 2017. According to Dynamar’s Reefer Analysis cargo has shifted from conventional reefer ships to containers with a drop of 18% in 2017, down 55% since 2000. The report noted that there ar

From the desk of Capt. Jeff Monroe, MM, AMPE International Association of Maritime and Port Executives BIMCO DATA ON US PORT VOLUMES RELEASED Both the US West Coast (USWC) and US East Coast (USEC) experienced high levels of growth during 2018 according to BIMCO. US West Coast container imports grew 8% during the period with US East Coast container imports growing 3.7%. Inbound loads exceeded 2 million TEU’s, 1.09 million on the West Coast and 0.91 million on the East Coast. T